Travesty
by Miss Caitie Jo
Summary: Maybe this new girl meant something to him. She didn't know, or care. All she did know was that he meant nothing to this new girl, and it broke her heart. Changed the rating for chapter 10. The characters hijacked my story.
1. Chapter 1

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_As I wrote this I was listening to Jewel's 'Foolish Games'. Not sure if it influenced anything or not. I don't own the song or Inception. _

"_You took your coat off and stood in the rain. You were always crazy like that. I watched from my window, always felt I was outside looking in on you. You were always the mysterious one with dark eyes and careless hair. You were fashionably sensitive, but to cool to care. You stood in my doorway with nothing to say besides some comment on the weather. Well in case you failed to notice. In case you failed to see – This is my heart bleeding before you this is me down on my knees. These foolish games are tearing me apart. Your thoughtless words are breaking my heart. You're breaking my heart…"_

* * *

Aridane threw up. Again. It was making her sick. Maybe this new girl meant something to him. She didn't know, or care. All she did know was that he meant nothing to this new girl. She had to get her act together. What was wrong with her anyway? She didn't need a man, but why did it bother her so much to see him with someone else?

* * *

"What's wrong Ariadne?" Arthur asked her quietly.

"Huh?"

"What's bothering you?"

"It's nothing." She sighed. She didn't want to lie to him, but she couldn't tell him the truth.

He saw straight through her lie. "Okay, now you have to tell me." He said – a slight smile played on his lips.

"It's just… How can he do this to me?" She blurted.

Arthur looked surprised. "Who is doing what to you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, um, nothing. No one." She blushed.

"No. You don't get off the hook that easily."

"It's nothing Arthur. I swear."

"Come on; let's go get some coffee and we'll talk about it."

Defeated, Ariadne just nodded.

* * *

Arthur didn't say anything as he drove. He opened the door to the café for her, and didn't speak until he ordered his coffee.

"Black, two sugars."

The lady looked at Ariadne. "Oh, uh, a mocha." She had to have something to cut the bitterness of the coffee. She didn't know how Arthur could stand to drink it black.

"So." Arthur said as he sipped his coffee. "Spill."

"Arthur, really I'm fine. I don't need to talk about it."

"I know you don't, but I want to hear about it." He smirked. "Besides, I can't work with you so distracted."

"I'm not distracted." She defended.

"When I have to repeat everything I say. You're distracted. Trust me." He smiled.

She sighed. "It's going to take more than coffee to get me to talk."

"Oh really? Alright, so our next stop will be the bar. Although that's more Eames' territory than mine." He meant it as a joke, but he noticed she stiffened when he mentioned Eames. "Ah. It's Eames. Isn't it?"

"No!" She said too quickly.

"Uh, huh." He grinned. This would have been a chance to have some fun if she wasn't so upset. "You're upset. I know that it's Eames, but why?"

"I don't know. I care about him Arthur. Don't ask me why 'cause I don't know." She stared at her drink. "He's always dating someone new. Maybe it's for the shagging I don't know. He doesn't seem happy though. He means nothing to those women. And if you look at him you can tell that he knows." She sighed.

"Do you feel better?"

"Not really." She shrugged. "I thought I would, but I don't."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Don't tell anyone. I will kill you Arthur!"

He chuckled. "I figured that. Anything else?"

"I don't know. If I think of something I'll let you know."

* * *

"Good morning." Eames grinned as he walked in.

"Morning." Ariadne mumbled. She knew he would soon rant about his escapades from the weekend. She didn't feel like listening to it.

"Morning Darling." Eames grinned at Arthur. Arthur just rolled his eyes. "Want to hear about my weekend?" He asked.

Ariadne huffed. "I'll be back." She muttered. She grabbed her bag and walked out.

"What's eating her?" Eames asked, a puzzled look on his face. Arthur wanted to say "You." But he didn't.

"Maybe, like me, she didn't want to hear about your weekend." Arthur scoffed.

"Well fine." Eames said. "I think it's supposed to rain." He said and walked to his desk.

Ariadne had walked out, but only around the corner. Silent tears streamed down her face, and she cursed herself for feeling this way. She quietly walked out so if she threw up it wouldn't be inside the warehouse.

* * *

A week had gone by since she told Arthur. He hadn't brought it up again. Until now.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." She lied.

"You're not eating are you?"

She sighed. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Every time I eat I throw up. I can't keep anything down. I can drink tea, and coffee. Nothing solid." She rubbed her face with her hands. "What do I do?"

"Besides tell Eames how you feel?"

"Yeah. That's kind of a last resort right now."

"I don't know then. Why not tell him?"

"Tell who what?" Eames asked as he walked in.

"Nothing." Arthur said.

"Oh, so sharing secrets now are we?" His tone was snarky.

"Eames piss off!" She stormed out.

"Alright. That's twice in the past week that she has left after I have come in."

"You are surprisingly observant Eames."

"Thank you Arthur. So what's got her in a tizzy?"

"I wouldn't know." Arthur lied. "I don't have a way with the ladies because I'm just 'stick in the mud Arthur'." He looked up at Eames. Eames looked surprised. "Yes, I hear how often you call me that."

"Hmm." Eames sat on the corner of Arthur's desk. "Is she having trouble with her mazes?"

"No. They're done."

"Did you do something?"

"I think we've established that she leaves when _you _come in. So the question is what did you do?" Arthur crossed his arm. He could see the wheels turning in Eames' head.

"I don't think I've done anything."

"Well you don't usually think." Arthur grinned. "What do you usually do when a woman is in a tizzy?"

"I usually find another one." He shrugged.

"Well we can't easily find another architect now can we?"

"We don't need to. I haven't done anything to her."

"I thought you left?" Arthur asked Ariadne. Eames spun around and looked at her.

"I forgot my keys." She grabbed her keys off her desk.

"What's wrong with you?" Eames asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Did I do something wrong? Arthur is convinced that you're mad at me and I did something."

"Leave me out of this." Arthur got up and walked into Cobb's office.

"Well?" Eames asked.

"Maybe I don't want to hear about your weekends and your nights every morning."

"Oh. Then just tell me to shut the Hell up like Cobb, or ignore me like Arthur does." He shrugged.

"Fine." She turned and left.

He walked to catch up with her. "You _are_ mad at me aren't you?" He smirked.

"Just leave me alone okay?" She looked up at him. His smirk disappeared when he saw her eyes had misted.

"Alright. If that's what you want." He sighed.

"I don't know what I want." She threw her hands up.

"I can't help you there."

"There is one thing."

"What's that?"

"Why do you date the women that you do when you know that you mean nothing to them?"

_"Why does she care?"_ He was surprised that she noticed. He just shrugged. "I'm a big boy Ariadne. I can take care of myself."

His words stung. "Good to know." She turned and walked away. The tears finally spilling over. She sent Arthur a message.

_"I can't because what if it's not reciprocated?"_

___

* * *

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_This idea has been bouncing around in my head for a little while now. I'm thinking it will be more than a one-shot. I'm sans computer for the weekend so it will be Monday before I can update. Let me know what you think. Suggestions and reviews are fabulous and bring smiles to my face! :) ~ Miss Caitie Jo_


	2. Chapter 2

_And here is chapter 2 :) Sorry this is later than I thought. Thanks for the reviews!_

* * *

Ariadne pulled herself together. It took some doing, but she did it. The clincher was when she stepped on the scale and saw that she had lost 5 pounds she didn't need to lose.

"Morning." She smiled.

"Morning." Arthur smiled back. He pointed at Eames. His feet were propped up on his desk. He was sleeping.

"Did he fall asleep here last night?"

"I guess. He was here when I left and asleep when I came in this morning. How are you feeling?"

"Better." She smiled. She walked over to Eames. "Good morning sunshine." She whispered in his ear. He bolted up.

"I fell asleep." He stretched. "Good morning to you too." He smiled.

"I told Arthur he should be the one to wake you up, but you know how he is." She grinned at Arthur. He just rolled his eyes.

"I'd prefer you to Arthur any day." Eames smiled. She blushed slightly. He continued, "You've lost weight Love."

"Yeah I have."

"You didn't need to, but you look good."

"Thanks." She blushed.

"So why did you decide to lose weight?"

"I didn't. I couldn't keep food down."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"That's why I've been so cranky lately. I haven't felt good, and I've been starving."

"Are you apologizing for being mad at me?" He teased.

"I wasn't mad at you."

"Apology accepted Love." He smiled.

She rolled her eyes.

* * *

Ariadne woke up and rubbed her head. "That's a headache." She moaned, and tried to sit up. She noticed a bottle of water and aspirin on the night stand. She swallowed the aspirin, and drank the rest of the water. Then she noticed the note. _"Morning Love. Hope you've recovered from last night. Give me a call when you're up and about, and I'll drive you to the warehouse We can chat some more. – Eames."_

She rubbed her face, and tried to remember the night before. She was still dressed in the clothes she wore yesterday. There was a blanket over her. She couldn't remember how she got back to her place. "I guess Eames brought me home."

"Yeah he did." Arthur said.

"Geez! Arthur you scared me."

"Sorry." He walked in her room and sat down.

"How did I end up with Eames?"

"You don't remember?" Arthur laughed.

"Bits and pieces. We went to a bar?"

"Yeah. It was actually a 'guys night out'. For some reason you came in."

"My classmate was bartending. She had asked me to bring her class notes. I stayed and had a few drinks while I talked to her. Did I slap someone?"

"Yes. This guy offered to buy you a drink and you said no. He kept on and grabbed your arm. You slapped him."

"Then he shook me."

"Yeah." Arthur nodded.

"And then Eames stepped in."

"And pounded him into the bar."

"Ouch."

"You laughed the whole time."

"Tell me I didn't throw myself at him."

"No, but you did tell him your life story."

"Oh gosh." She shook her head.

"You were like an open book."

"What did I say? Did I say anything about my feelings for him?"

"Not while I was there. I left and then he called me about an hour later to sit with you."

"Why did you leave me?"

"You said you would be fine." Arthur grinned.

"I will never drink again. What if I made a fool of myself?"

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Did you sleep here?"

"I crashed on your couch, and checked on you every hour or so."

"Thanks Arthur." She smiled, and gave him a hug.

"Anytime."

"Why did Eames want me to call him?"

"I don't know. He said if I would stay up with you that he would drive you to the warehouse."

"I'll call him after I shower." She stood up.

"Good idea. You should drink some more water too. I'll see ya later. Call me if you need anything." He said as he left.

"Thanks Arthur." She smiled.

* * *

Eames checked his phone for the hundredth time. She hadn't called yet. He frowned. If something happened to her he was going to blame Arthur for not watching her, and then blame himself for letting her out of his sight. He didn't know why he suddenly had feelings for her. Maybe he thought that he always needed to be there to protect her because Cobb had his kids, and Arthur was Arthur. Maybe it was the way she looked at him after he pounded the jerk into the bar. Or maybe it was the way she opened up, and told him all about her past. Things that she had never told the others. Even Arthur, and she mentioned how she trusted Arthur with her life. He wanted to ask her if she trusted him with her life, but he didn't. He had to admit he was jealous of the relationship between the Architect and the Point Man. They weren't dating. At least he didn't think they were. His thoughts were interrupted by his phone. He looked at it, and smiled. It was Ariadne.

* * *

_Let me know what you think. I hope I can update tomorrow. Suggestions and reviews are awesome! Thanks!_


	3. Chapter 3

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This ended up being longer than I expected. I hope you like it. Thanks for the reviews. They are awesome!

P.S. I own nothing, but this idea was mine. :)

* * *

"Morning Love." Eames said cheerfully when Ariadne opened the door.

"Morning. I'm trying to find my bag. Did I have it last night?"

"I didn't notice."

"Well, you're no help." She teased.

"Sorry." He shrugged. "I was busy making sure _you_ didn't get taken advantage of. I wasn't too concerned about your bag."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome Love." He smiled.

"Maybe Lena has it." She muttered, and walked to get her phone. Eames sighed and sat down. Maybe he had read too much into this. Ariadne came back out a few minutes later.

"Sorry. I called Lena, and she has it at the bar. I'll go get it later. I'm ready if you are."

"Sure. Let's go." He stood up.

"Thanks for driving me. I could have walked."

"Nonsense. You shouldn't walk that much until you have fully recuperated from your inebriation."

"Eames, I'm fine. Really."

"I believe you, but if I let you walk to the warehouse and something happened… Well, I'd never hear the end of it." He tried to sound jovial, but Ariadne picked up on his concern.

"Thanks." She smiled. "Arthur said I told you my life story?"

Eames laughed. "Yes, you did. It was rather entertaining."

"Your note said we could chat some more. About what?"

"Whatever you want. When we left the bar you said you hadn't finished. There was something else you were going to tell me, but you fell asleep on the way back to your place." He stopped at a traffic light and looked at her.

"I have no idea what I was going to tell you. I don't remember a lot about last night. Sorry."

"That's alright." He smiled. She knew it wasn't.

"What had I been talking about? Maybe that will jog my memory."

"A friend of yours from grade school. You never mentioned his name."

Ariadne racked her brain. _"Was I talking about Tyler?"_ She tried to remember what she would have been talking about, and why she would have brought Ty up.

"What's wrong?" Eames asked her. "You've scrunched up your face, and you look like you're in pain."

"I'm just trying to remember. Was I crying at all?"

"No. You had been laughing, but you stopped."

"I don't know what I was going to tell you about him, or why. I've never told anyone about him. Not even Arthur."

"I thought you and Arthur told each other everything." He teased.

She shot him a look. "There's a lot that I've never told Arthur. My own parents don't know half of what I told you last night."

"Thank you for trusting me." He smiled.

"I was drunk!" She said too harshly. The look on Eames' face made her cringe. It was a mixture of hurt and complete shock.

"Sorry." He muttered turning his eyes back to the road.

"Eames. I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"How else could you have meant it?"

She had to admit he had a point. "It's not what I meant to say. I was drunk, but for me to tell you everything that I did I must have thought I could trust you. I trust you with my life Eames." She smiled.

He smiled at her.

* * *

"Morning Arthur." Ariadne smiled as she and Eames walked in.

"Headache gone?" He asked.

"Not quite."

"Have you been drinking enough water?"

"Yes, and I took aspirin this morning. Maybe I'll take some more." She reached for her bag. "Oh, yeah, I don't have my bag."

"Where is it?"

"Lena has it. I guess I left it on the bar. I don't know." She shrugged.

"Here." Arthur handed her two more aspirin.

"Thanks. What would I do without you Arthur?"

Eames was sitting at his desk. His back was to them. He was making faces and mumbling.

"Eames, what's wrong with you?" Arthur asked.

Eames spun around in his chair. "Did you take my folder?" He crossed his arms.

"No. I didn't."

"I left it here on my desk."

"What do you want me to say Eames? Yes, I took it, and burned it just to spite you."

"That wouldn't surprise me."

"Oh for crying out loud." Ariadne fussed. "Here." She dropped the folder on his desk. "I borrowed it so I could tweak my mazes. I left a note that said I would return it when I was done. Happy?"

"Ariadne, I'm sorry. I thought Arthur was screwing with me to get back at me."

"It would serve you right wouldn't it?" Her eyes were fiery. He had to admit having her mad at him kind of turned him on.

"I'm sorry. Are you done with the folder?"

"Yes. I finished my mazes last night, and I forgot to put it back on your desk before I went to class. I'm sorry." She stared at him for a second.

He was going to say something. Anything. Before he could she got a message on her phone.

"I have to go. Lena has a problem with something." She wrapped her scarf around her neck, and picked up her keys. She walked out and slammed the door behind her.

"I'd say she's mad." Arthur smirked.

"Brilliant observation Arthur." Eames sat back down at his desk and slung the folder across the room.

* * *

"Hey Lena. What's up?" Ariadne walked inside Lena's apartment.

"First of all these notes make no sense."

"You should have been in class. They didn't make much sense there either."

"Great. Here's your bag."

"Thanks. Is that all you needed? I could have gotten my bag tonight."

"Well, I didn't want to forget to give it to you. Do you have to time to get some coffee?"

"Sure."

"Good. Let's go." She grabbed her bag.

They walked to a café across the street from Lena's apartment.

"So I may have had ulterior motives in bringing you here." Lena admitted.

"What? Why?"

"He wanted to talk to you."

"What? I'm leaving." She stood up.

"Hear him out Ariadne. Please?"

"Why should I?"

"He's sorry."

"Ha!" Ariadne snorted. She gave in and sat back down. "You owe me." She said after they ordered their drinks.

"I know. He's my brother. What can I say? You can't pick family."

"Hey Lena. Hey Ariadne."

"Hey Ty." Ariadne tried to keep a straight face, but she started laughing.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Your nose." She giggled.

"Well it's not funny. It hurts. Tell your friend thanks a lot for busting it."

"He was only trying to look after me."

"It didn't look that way."

"You shook me."

"You slapped me."

"You asked to buy me a drink."

"It's not a crime."

"What part of that even seemed like a good idea? Huh Ty?"

"I, I don't know. I didn't think about it."

"Exactly. _You_ were the one who ruined our friendship. _You_ were the one who said all those horrible things. Did you really think you could walk up to me, and pretend everything was alright again?" She took a sip of her coffee.

"I'm sorry. I was drunk too. I figured maybe if we were both drunk we could talk without getting angry."

"That didn't work so well did it?"

"You weren't drunk enough."

"I will never be drunk enough."

"You and your, uh, friend. Are you together?"

"No, but what if we are?"

"I just wondered. The way he jumped up. The way he glared at me. It just seems like there is something more going on."

Ariadne's heart jumped into her throat.

* * *

Eames was driving to clear his head. Cobb had told him to take a walk after his outburst in the warehouse. He didn't feel like walking so he went driving. He was actually starting to feel a little better. He stopped at a traffic light and took in his surroundings. There was a café to his left. There was Ariadne. She was having coffee with Lena and… "What the Hell?" Eames muttered. The jerk from the night before was sitting there too. Broken nose and all. He was tempted to park the car, and go bust the guy again. He thought better of it. He would ask her about it later.

* * *

Eames walked in the warehouse and saw Ariadne sitting at her desk. "I have something to say to you." He said.

She looked up and stared at him. "Well, we're the only ones here."

"You, Ariadne. You are a travesty!"

"A travesty?" She asked standing up and crossing her arms.

"Yes. Travesty…" He started to explain.

"I know what it means Eames. I'm not quite sure why you would say such a thing."

"Why were you at a café with that guy?" He blurted.

"His name is Tyler."

"I don't care what his name is."

"That's who I was telling you about last night. I hadn't talked to him in over two years. We were good friends, and he ruined it by saying some truly awful things. I never wanted to talk to him again, or see him. I'm glad you stepped in when you did."

"You still haven't told me why you were at the café with him."

"I went to see Lena, and she wanted to get coffee. Ty is her brother. He wanted to talk to me."

"_Great. She has a pet name for him."_ Eames thought, but didn't say anything.

"He did most of the talking. I sat there and laughed." She took a step closer to him.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry if it upset you."

"I never said it upset me."

"Then why did you bring it up? And why did you say _I_ was a travesty?" With every step she took toward him he took a step back. The fire was in her eyes again, and he was a little afraid of her.

"I, I don't know." He said as he bumped into the wall.

"You were jealous. Weren't you? You thought last night meant something."

"Well, I, uh…" He stuttered. The thought that it didn't mean anything hurt.

"Now you know how I feel when you come in talking about your latest girlfriend, or fling, or whatever."

"You're jealous!" Eames smirked.

"I never said that." She reached up and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck. He drew a sharp breath. Before he realized it she had pulled his face to hers and caught his lips in an anything but chaste kiss. He was so focused on their kiss he almost didn't notice his arms wrapping around her waist, and pulling her as close to him as they could. She parted her lips and let her tongue brush against his teeth. He grinned. He opened his mouth, and let her in as she did the same. His stomach flipped when he heard her moan. This was so much better than anything he had ever experienced.

"Eames!" Arthur shouted as he walked in. "Are you ready?"

Eames and Ariadne pulled apart. They each went back to their desks.

"Well?" Arthur looked a little cross.

"I thought we had another week."

"No. It got bumped up. Tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, yes. I'm ready." Eames rolled his eyes.

Ariadne sat at her desk with her left hand covering her swollen mouth, and her right holding a pencil trying to draw. She glanced over at Eames. He winked at her, and her stomach flipped.

"Did I interrupt something?" Arthur looked at Ariadne. She shot him the look of death.

"Arthur darling, give us a minute will you?" Eames smiled.

"We'll be late." He protested.

"Go outside. Stare at your watch for sixty seconds, and I'll be out there. If I'm not you can come barging in again."

"Fine." Arthur grumbled walking out.

"If you wanted to kiss me Love you just had to say so. You didn't have to back me into a corner." He brushed his hand across her cheek.

"Maybe I'm not as audacious as you."

"Well, we can't all be me can we Darling?" He grinned.

She rolled her eyes.

"I'll come see you when we're done." He kissed her. "I love you Ariadne." He stared into her eyes. The way he said her name gave her chills.

"I love you too Eames." She smiled.

"Time's up." Arthur yelled through the door.

"Time to go. I promise I'll come see you when we're done." He kissed her cheek.

"You'd better."

"I will." He opened the door. "Alright Darling I'm ready." He smiled at Arthur.

Arthur turned around and looked at Ariadne. She smiled, and he noticed her swollen lips. _"Finally."_ He thought to himself.

* * *

_Let me know what you thought. Thanks! :)_


	4. Author's Note

_**Author's note**_

_ally leigh and SneakerToose – I read that part again and realized that it was rushed. Pooey. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was Arthur's fault (*gasp*). I don't know. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm going to try to work it into the next chapter. The problem now is I'm not sure how I'm going to do that and I'm stuck with where to go from here._

_Suggestions anyone?_

_Thanks,_

_Miss Caitie Jo_


	5. Chapter 4 Something wasn't right

_Sorry for the delay. I got stuck, and then I've been sick all week. I started writing today, and came up with this idea. I think I solved the problem of it being rushed. I hope..._

* * *

Chapter 4 – Something wasn't right

Ariadne rolled over, and looked at the clock. She couldn't sleep. Something wasn't right. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew something was. Maybe it was the kiss. No. The kiss was incredible. Maybe it was that he told her he loved her. Maybe it was that she said she loved him too. That was it. Something wasn't right about it. It was too soon. It felt _rushed_. Yes. _Rushed_. She was glad she didn't blurt that she loved him before he said it. Did he feel obligated to say it? No. She chuckled at the thought of Eames being obligated to do anything. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, and if he wanted. Obligation was more Arthur's cup of tea. She yawned and looked at the clock. She couldn't remember when she went to bed, or how she got back to her apartment. There was one explanation for that, and it would also explain why Eames behavior was somewhat _off_. No. It couldn't be. _"They wouldn't."_ She thought before falling asleep.

* * *

Arthur and Eames watched Ariadne as she dreamed.

"So are you going to tell me what happened in there?" Eames asked.

"Nope."

"I know something happened. You had a stupid grin on your face the whole time. You went in as me didn't you?"

"You popped in as me!"

"Fair enough." Eames shrugged. "So did you kiss her or did she kiss you?"

"Eames! I said I wasn't going to talk about it." Arthur was getting flustered.

"Your skills as a forger aren't as good as mine."

"Well, we can't all be you can we _Darling_?" Arthur mocked Eames' tone.

Eames sat for a moment. "She kissed you didn't she?"

"EAMES!"

"I just asked a question. She kissed you thinking she was kissing me." He grinned.

Arthur rolled his eyes. Busted.

"This is good."

"No. It's not. I told you this was a bad idea. She is going to be mad at us."

"Us? Oh, no Love. She is going to be mad at _you_ for once. I was just 'stick in the mud' Arthur who interrupted things."

Arthur knew Eames was right. Ariadne was going to be mad at him. It was funny when she was mad at Eames, but it wasn't fun to be on the receiving end of her wrath. He shouldn't have told her that he loved her. It slipped out; an honest mistake, and after a kiss like that who could blame him?

"Why are you so quiet?" Eames stared at him.

"Just thinking."

"About the kiss? It must bite to know that she thought she was kissing me whilst passionately kissing you."

Arthur lost his temper. "Well, you told her you loved her." He took a swing at Eames.

"I did what?" Eames blocked Arthur's fist. "No, that was you. You had no right to say that." Now he really was jealous.

"Now she'll be mad at you too."

"Grand." Eames muttered. He was ready to slug Arthur. He should have never suggested the dream. Part of him was still mad that she had been at the café with the guy that hurt her. The rest of him was mad that Arthur wouldn't tell him what happened. It had to have been good. Or maybe Arthur was just screwing with him.

* * *

"What the Hell?" Ariadne shot up in the chair. She ripped the needle out, and glared at the Point Man and the Forger.

"It was Eames' idea." Arthur said. _"Does she know?"_ He wondered.

"I ought to knock you out." Eames said.

"Arthur, how could you?" Ariadne almost whispered. The look she gave him was almost enough to tear him apart.

"_She knows." _He sighed. "Ariadne, I…" He started.

"I don't want to hear it. I trusted you Arthur, and you exploited it."

"I told you she would be mad at you." Eames sneered.

"And you." Ariadne turned her angry glare to Eames. "Why was it your idea?"

"I told you she would be mad at you too." Arthur mocked Eames.

Eames opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say.

"Enough!" Ariadne stood up. "The two of you can continue on with your pissing match, but I'm going home." She picked up her bag, and walked out. She had three messages from Lena. Message one – Ty was sorry. "Ha. He sure is." Message two – Stop by the bar when you're done with work. "Okay." Message three – How about dinner? I don't have to work after all. Before you ask Ty is gone. It'll just be the two of us. "Sounds good." Ariadne messaged her back. "I'll see you in fifteen. Have to stop by my place first." She wanted to stay home and just cry. She knew that was pathetic. She couldn't believe that Arthur would do that to her. She didn't know why Eames would suggest it. She had made a complete fool of herself in the dream world and Arthur had probably told Eames. She didn't know how she could face either of them again.

* * *

Dinner with Lena kept her mind off Arthur and Eames. Thankfully Lena didn't notice Ariadne's bloodshot eyes, and if she did she didn't say anything. After she got back to her place Arthur called. She ignored the call, and threw a pillow across the room. Thirty seconds later Eames called. She ignored that call too. She threw another pillow. Five minutes later Cobb called. "Ugh!" She groaned and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey Ariadne." Dom's voice was calm. "I know you're mad at Arthur and Eames. They told me." He sighed. "I'm sorry. If you want to take some time off go ahead. Our job is next week, and your mazes are done."

"Dom…"

"Don't argue with me. Just take some time off. You'll feel better."

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

She smiled and hung up the phone. Some time off would do her some good.

* * *

_So what do you think? Did that solve why the last chapter felt rushed? Let me know what you guys think. Suggestions are great, and reviews are wonderful! :)_


	6. Chapter 5 Time Off

_Thanks for the reviews. They make me smile. :)_

* * *

Chapter 5 – Time Off

Ariadne woke up to the sun shining through her window. She smiled. "Another day with no work." She rolled over and looked at her phone. No missed calls. Cobb had promised he would make Arthur and Eames quit calling her. He told her they just wanted to apologize for being such assholes and make it up to her. She told him she needed time. She had tried to ignore it. She didn't want to think about it. She half expected Eames to do something stupid and/or idiotic; something that would hurt her, but Arthur? He was more than a coworker. He was her friend. "Or I thought he was." She mumbled as she got out of bed. She had never been a vengeful person, but she was determined to make them pay.

* * *

"So I saw your friends last night." Lena said as she looked over the lunch menu.

"Who did you see?"

"Don't be coy with me Missy. Your friend Arthur and the guy who broke Ty's nose." She grinned. "What's his name?"

"Eames." Ariadne gave in.

"They said they haven't seen you in a week or so. You took off work?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"They asked how you were, and if you were still mad at them." Lena took a sip of her water. "I told them I'd never seen you so pissed."

"You what?" Ariadne laughed.

"I had no idea what was going on, but they seemed so bothered by the fact that you might still be mad so I told them that you were."

"Oh wow." She laughed. "What did they say?"

"They didn't _say_ anything. Arthur looked concerned. Eames looked like he was going to be sick. They wanted me to tell you that they were sorry. I told them that they sure were sorry."

"Lena, I love you." Ariadne hugged her.

"I know, I'm fabulous. What did they do to you?"

"They played the worst practical joke on me ever."

"I knew you were upset that night. I could tell you didn't want to talk about it."

"Yeah. You know what I do right?"

"Extraction?"

"Yeah, well I'm the architect. I create the dream world. Anyway, they hooked me up and pulled me into the dream world. Arthur pretended to be Eames and Eames pretended to be Arthur."

"Whoa."

"Yeah. Arthur knows I have feelings for Eames, and he exploited them. And Eames found out about it."

"Wow, those boys are assholes."

"Yeah they are. Cobb called and suggested I take some time off."

"Good idea."

"It has been."

"So how are you going to get back at them?" Lena asked. She was good at revenge.

"I haven't decided yet." Then it hit her. "They've only seen you at night. Right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I have an idea." She grinned.

* * *

Ariadne worked it out with Cobb. Lena would be her 'replacement'. Lena dyed her hair dark brown to match Ariadne's. She wore glasses instead of contacts.

"You look really different." Ariadne said.

"Thank you. Do I look like you from behind?" She turned around.

"Yeah."

"Great. I like my hair dark."

"It's a good look for you."

"Thanks. Wish me luck."

"Good luck."

Lena waved as she walked into the warehouse.

"Marie I presume." Cobb smiled.

"Yes. Nice to meet you." She shook his hand.

"I hope you have a better poker face than mine."

"I'm a bartender. I'll be okay." She smiled.

"This is going to be good."

* * *

"Arthur why do you have to be such a screw up?" Eames griped.

"Me? It was your idea you idiot!"

Lena tried not to laugh.

"Ariadne!" Arthur said.

"You came back! I told you she'd forgive us Arthur."

"Who are you talking to?" Lena turned around. Arthur and Eames both looked dumbfounded.

"Uh, who are you?" Arthur finally stammered.

"Marie." She smiled and stuck out her hand. "I'm a student at the University here."

"Where's Ariadne?" Eames asked.

"I'm her replacement." Lena smiled.

"Where did she go?"

"You didn't hear? She was offered a position in Los Angeles, or was it Vancouver. I don't remember which. It was with some big-time corporation. They made her an offer she couldn't refuse. I'm a little jealous of her actually." She focused on adjusting the maze Ariadne had given her. The one flaw was that she couldn't draw.

"She, she left?" Eames seemed surprised.

"She left without saying goodbye." Arthur seemed _sad_.

"Seems she didn't forgive you twits after all." Cobb came out of his office, and leaned against the wall."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Arthur asked.

"I didn't want to distract you from the job. I thought you would be here before Marie, but she is more punctual than the both of you." He smirked.

"You could have still told us." Eames huffed.

Lena couldn't help but laugh. It was so humorous.

"What's so funny?" Eames spun around and looked at her.

"She warned me about both of you. I can't believe she was right." She laughed. Her phone buzzed. It was Ariadne. "Ooo! My lunch date is waiting. See you later boys." She smiled as she walked out.

* * *

"I wish you could have seen their faces!" Lena giggled as she tried to eat her salad.

"I want to hear about it."

"They thought I was you. They were shocked to see I wasn't. They thought you had forgiven them and come back to work."

"Those arrogant little buggers!"

"Well Eames thought you had forgiven them."

"That figures."

"Eames was surprised that you left. Arthur seemed sad that you left without saying goodbye. They were miffed at Cobb for not telling him."

"I wish I could have seen it." Ariadne grinned. "Do they think I've left the country already?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"I wonder if they'll show up at my place."

"They might. I think you should make them squirm some more."

"I will. Don't worry."

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think. _


	7. Chapter 6  The Chapter With No Name

_I thought I was going to get this up sooner. Sorry. Here is Chapter 6. I don't have a name for it but that's okay. :) Thanks for the reviews. They always make me smile. And thanks to troypayisbetter for giving me the idea of Eames confinding in someone._

* * *

If Ariadne was honest with herself she missed Arthur and Eames. She was still mad at them, but listening to Lena talk about them made her wish she was working again.

"Eames is still sulking. Arthur told him to go on a date so we didn't have to put up with him. He said he didn't feel like it."

"He didn't feel like it? That's not like him at all."

"That's what Arthur said. Girl, Eames is definitely into you." Lena grinned.

Ariadne blushed. She bit her lip and grinned. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. She was thrilled.

"Uh, huh." Lena grinned. "I knew you would like that."

"Yeah."

"Oh, we have to work on the mazes." Lena's eyes got big.

"Why?"

"Arthur commented that my mazes look like yours."

"What? What did you tell him?"

"I told him I had the same classes and professors as you. He seemed to buy it."

"I hope he did. You know they'll be mad at me."

"Why? This isn't half as bad as what they did to you."

"You have a point."

"Of course I do." She looked at her watch. "I have to go."

"Where?"

"I have been invited out for drinks with the guys."

"Have fun, and don't drink too much."

"I won't. I'm a bartender remember?"

"Oh yes. Have fun."

* * *

"Arthur be a dear and get me another drink?" Eames asked. Cobb laughed.

"Fine. Cobb, Marie, do either of you need anything?" Arthur asked. Cobb shook his head.

"No thanks." Lena smiled.

Arthur got up to get Eames another drink if only to get away from his whining.

"So Eames, what's eating you?" Cobb asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." He mumbled.

"Work never ends." Cobb grumbled at his phone. "I'll be back." He walked out.

"I'm not telling you either." Eames looked at Lena.

"Here ya go." Arthur handed Eames the drink.

"Thank you Darling." Eames said.

"Arthur, Eames won't tell us what's bothering him." Lena said.

"Oh I'll tell you what's bothering him." Arthur smiled.

"Don't you dare!" Eames growled at him.

"Okay. Well you two get this sorted out while I go get another drink." She slid out of the booth.

"Here." Arthur handed her money. "Will you get me one too?"

"Sure Arthur." She said. She walked to the bar. "Hey Tony. I need two more please."

"Only if you bat your eyes at me Lena." He teased.

"Only for you." She batted her eyes, and laughed.

"Here ya go." He placed the glasses on the bar. She handed him the money. "Nah, these two are on me."

"Really? You sure?"

"Yeah, but tell me what you are doing here when you aren't working? When I'm off I don't come near this place."

"I'm undercover."

"What for?" He laughed.

"I'm helping Ariadne with something."

"That's nice of you."

"Yeah, the two guys I'm with played a horrible prank on her so I'm helping her get back at them."

"You win best friend of the year."

"Thanks Tony."

"And you also win worst co-worker of the year. I have had to work every night for the past two weeks."

"I'm sorry. Take comfort in the fact that I'm making no money doing this."

"Oh, I am. That's why your drinks are free tonight."

"Thanks again." She picked the glasses up, and walked back to the booth. "Here ya go." She handed Arthur his drink.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." She slid into the booth. "Here is your money." She held it out. Arthur looked confused. She laughed. "When you flirt with the bartender sometimes you get free drinks." She shrugged.

Eames laughed. "That's my kind of woman."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Seems like you're feeling better."

"Not really." Eames shrugged.

"Will you tell us what's wrong?" Lena asked.

"I'm fine."

"What if Arthur leaves; will you tell you me then?" She asked sweetly.

"I'll think about it." He grinned. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"I'll be back."

"Thanks Arthur." Lena smiled.

Eames waited for Arthur to walk out. "He gives me Hell you know." He stared at his drink.

"I think you give your fair share too." She pointed out.

"True enough. I should never have asked him to take us into her dream."

"Who's dream? Ariadne's?"

"Yes."

"Why did you?"

"There was this idiot who had been hitting on her at the bar, and he continued on when she said no so I slugged him. Well, the next day I saw her at a café with her friend and that guy. I guess I was jealous."

"_Jealous of Ty? He knows nothing."_ She thought to herself. "Were you two together?"

"No, but maybe I wanted us to be." He sighed. "Now she's gone." He coughed. Lena thought it was an attempt to cover a sob.

"Does she know how you feel?"

"I never told her. She's mad at me and Arthur."

"I would be too if I were her."

"I can't blame her. It was stupid. I should have just confronted her myself, but for some reason I couldn't. I let her go." He swallowed hard. She could tell he was really upset.

"I'm sorry. Is there anything you can do?"

"I tried to call her, but her voicemail says she's moved, and won't have that number for much longer. She hasn't returned my calls. Oh well." He shrugged.

"Eames." Cobb said.

"Yeah?"

"I need you to help me with something."

"Alright. See ya Marie. Thanks." He kissed her cheek.

"You're welcome." She smiled. "I should get home." She told Arthur.

"Do you need a ride?"

"That would be great."

* * *

"Eames, you need to snap out of it." Cobb said.

"I'm fine." Eames said.

"No. You're not."

"What do you want me to say? That I'm in love with her?"

"Are you?" Cobb raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Eames admitted. Cobb thought he looked relieved.

"Good. Then do something about it."

"Like what?"

"Go find her."

"Alright. I will." He grinned. "Thanks Dom."

* * *

"Arthur?" Ariadne opened her door. She saw Lena standing beside him. "Lena what the Hell?"

"He figured it out." She shrugged.

"How?" Ariadne asked as they walked in.

"The tattoo on her wrist." He said.

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "I forgot about that."

"Other than that your plan was flawless."

"Thank you." Ariadne said.

"And the dream world is incredible." Lena beamed.

"When did you go in?"

"This afternoon."

"She did well for her first time, and for not really being an architect."

"Thank you." Lena blushed.

"I'll admit Ariadne you really had me convinced that you were gone. Eames thinks so too. Although it wasn't very nice of you."

"Nice of me? What about what you and Eames did to me? That wasn't _nice_ Arthur."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I know he is too. You got us good. Now put the poor man out of his misery."

"He has to explain himself, and tell me why he wanted to get in my dreams so badly."

"I can tell you that."

"I know, but I want to hear it from him."

"Fair enough. I'm glad you're not gone." He hugged her. "I really am sorry for agreeing to go along with Eames."

"I know. It's okay. I've gotten my revenge."

"Yes you have. I won't cross you again." He smiled.

"I'm glad you've learned your lesson. Um, did you tell him everything from the dream?"

"Yeah, he dug it all out of me. Sorry." He shrugged.

"It's okay Arthur. Lena, thanks for your help." She hugged her.

"Anytime. I had a blast."

"I'm sure we can find something else for you to do." Arthur said. "Uh, that is if you want to."

"I'd like that." She grinned. She glanced at Ariadne's stack of books. "Oh gosh I forgot I have to study." She groaned.

"I'll drive you home." Arthur offered.

"Thanks." She smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow Ariadne." She hugged her.

"See you tomorrow."

* * *

Ariadne had fallen asleep while studying. She woke up about an hour later to someone knocking on her door. She sat up and stretched wondering who was at the door this late. "If it's Arthur again I'll kick him for waking me up." She mumbled as she walked to the door. She looked through the peephole and smiled. She opened the door. "Eames."

"Ariadne." He smiled, and his face lit up. "You haven't left."

"No, I haven't."

"Do you mind if I come in?"

"Not at all." She stepped to the side and gestured for him to come in. "So why are you here?" She asked after he came in. She closed the door.

"I wanted to see you, and to apologize for invading your dreams without permission."

"Eames…" She started.

"I was jealous. Darling, don't be mad at Arthur because I asked him to help me. He told me it was a bad idea, but I didn't listen. He wasn't going to tell me anything from the dream, but I eventually dug it out of him. I saw you kiss him thinking he was me. I should have realized that you cared about me, but I didn't. I was stupid. I know I messed things up Ariadne. And I am so, so sorry for that. And if you let me I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make up for what I did." He looked at her. His eyes pleaded for forgiveness. "You want me to grovel? I'll grovel! You want me to beg? I'll beg! You want me to crawl around on the floor and kiss the toes of your shoes? Just say the word and I'm eating dirt. Just please, say something. Let me make it up to you. Because I… I can't live without you." He looked so sincere.

She had never seen him like that. She put her hands over her mouth. She was trying hard not to laugh. The man had thrown his heart out on the floor for her. She had never seen anyone so vulnerable. It was so unlike him that it was almost comical – if it hadn't been so sweet. "I, I don't think I can live without you either." She admitted. He smiled brighter than she had ever seen him smile. He picked her up and swung her around. She giggled. "The eating dirt bit was a nice touch." She said as he kissed her cheek and set her down.

"I thought so." He shrugged. "But seriously, I meant it. I'd do anything for you." He stroked her hair.

"I know you would."

"I'm sorry. So very sorry." He whispered.

"All is forgiven." She hugged him.

He kissed her mouth. It seemed like the world melted around her. Reality was so much better than dreaming.

He pulled away.

"What?" She looked puzzled.

"I, I love you." He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I love you too." She smiled. This time it felt right. She glanced at her stack of books and saw her bishop on its side. She knew it wasn't a dream this time.

* * *

_So that's chapter 6. By the way the line that Eames used isn't mine. Someone posted it last year on a writing forum as a romantic line. I kept it around and decided to use it here. I thought it was cute. :P _

_Let me know what you think! Thanks! :)_


	8. Chapter 7 Until I Hear From You

_I s'ppose I have some s'plaining to do... :) Okay, so maybe not. I wrote some of this Wednesday. I went out of town Thursday for my cousin's wedding, and got home this evening. Thanks for all the reviews. They make me smile._

_The title of the chapter is kinda sorta inspired by the Gin Blossoms 'Til I Hear it From You'._

_I don't own Inception or the Gin Blossoms music..._

* * *

Chapter 7 – Until I hear from you

When Ariadne woke up she noticed Eames had left a note. She didn't know when he managed to write it and leave it where she wouldn't find it until the next morning. She smiled, and read the note. _"Morning Love, I hope you slept well. I know what you're thinking I didn't sit here and watch you sleep while I wrote this note. I actually wrote it before I came over here. I was hoping you were still here, and hoping you would forgive me. I wanted to apologise, and tell you that I loved you. I love you Darling. I'll see you in the morning."_ She laughed. "He is so funny, and I love him." She smiled.

"Morning." Lena hollered as she opened the door.

"I forgot I gave you a key. I'm still in bed."

"Why are you still in bed?"

"I slept in." She handed her the note. "And Eames came by last night."

"How did that go?"

"Read the note."

"Oh wow. He actually went through with it. He told you he loves you."

"He did, and not just in the note."

"Yay!" Lena squealed. She sat down on the bed and hugged her.

"He gave me the sweetest apology ever, and then he kissed me." She sighed.

"You are sunk."

"I know. When he kissed me it took my breath away. Literally. How cliché is that?"

"It doesn't get more cliché than that, but it's really sweet. Did he stay here last night?"

"No. We talked for a little while and then he left. He said he'd see me today. Who knows what he has in mind. What are you doing up anyway?"

"Uh, I woke up early. So I thought I'd come see you. I was hoping that Eames stopped by last night. I'm glad he did."

"Me too. Did you get any studying done?"

"Uh yeah, a little bit anyway."

"How was Arthur?"

"He's glad you didn't leave." She tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I'm glad I didn't either."

"And, um, he kissed me goodnight." She blushed and bit her lip.

"What? He kissed you goodnight?"

"Mmhmm." Lena grinned.

"So 'stick in the mud' Arthur kissed you goodnight." Ariadne giggled.

"And he's a good kisser too."

"Yes he is." Ariadne didn't realize she said that out loud until she saw Lena's face.

"How do you know that?" Lena's voice went up a couple of octaves.

"We kissed in the dream when I thought he was Eames."

"Oh." Lena felt silly.

"Arthur is a sweetheart, and a good friend. I'm sure we can find something for you to help us with." She grinned. "And if you didn't notice, he blushed when he said that."

"I thought maybe he did. I really like him Ariadne."

"I'm glad. Besides Eames keeps telling Arthur he needs a girl to give him a life." She laughed and hugged Lena.

* * *

Lena wasn't sure if she left her book at the warehouse or not. She hadn't talked to Arthur since he kissed her and she wanted an excuse to see him. She walked in the warehouse.

"Good morning Lena." Cobb greeted her.

"Good morning. Did I leave my book here?"

"I haven't seen it. You can look around. I sent Eames and Arthur out on errands. I try to make them work together so that maybe they will get along better." He shrugged.

"Good luck." Lena laughed. She walked over to Ariadne's desk to look for the book.

"Arthur really." Eames droned on as they walked in. "You really are a bore."

"Shut it Eames!" Arthur fussed. He was cross.

"Don't be cross at me Darling." Eames purred.

Lena laughed.

"Lena! Good morning Love." Eames smiled.

"Good morning Eames." She smiled, and looked at Arthur. "Good morning Arthur."

He was still mad at Eames, but took a moment to smile at Lena. He felt like an idiot for kissing Lena, and then completely ignored her. He didn't ignore her on purpose. Cobb needed him to look into something, and he totally immersed himself in his work. He had thought she would be mad at him. She didn't look mad though.

"Is Ariadne coming in today?" Eames asked Lena.

"When I talked to her yesterday she said she was."

"That's what she told me when I saw her Saturday."

Lena's phone rang. It was Ariadne. She made sure it wasn't on speaker. "Hello?"

"Hey, um I'm not going to be able to come in today." Ariadne sounded stressed.

"Okay, why's that?"

"Something has come up. I have to go home and I'm trying to pack so I can get to the airport."

Lena knew something had to be wrong. Ariadne hadn't been home since they had started school in Paris three years ago. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"It's a long story. I just have to go."

"How are you getting to the airport?"

"Taxi."

"How are you getting from the airport?"

"I don't know yet."

"If my brother was there he could pick you up." She smirked.

"I already have enough drama in my life. I don't need Ty to give me more."

"True enough. Besides he's busy gallivanting across the globe." She heard a door shut and figured Ariadne had finished packing. "Are you flying into Newark?"

"No LaGuardia."

"Why LaGuardia? Newark's closer."

"Not to where I need to go."

"But you said you were going home."

"I am, but I have a stop in NYC first."

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"My dad called about two hours ago. My cousin Ross overdosed on heroin or something, and is in the hospital."

"Oh wow."

"Yeah. It's bad. He's hooked on drugs. He's gone completely mental."

Lena heard a door open and shut. She heard Ariadne ask the driver to take her to Charles de Gaulle.

"I don't know what I'm going to do Lena. Ross was like a brother to me. I was always the sister that he lost. I don't know what happened to him."

"I am so sorry."

"This is my fault. I left for Paris, and I haven't kept in touch with him like I should have." She sobbed.

"This isn't your fault. You don't know that for sure."

"I want to talk to him. I want to ask him what went wrong."

"You can do that when you get there."

"Lena, he's unresponsive. Dad didn't think he'd still be alive by the time I got there. It's a six hour flight. I have to at least try." She sobbed. "Are you at the warehouse?"

"Yeah."

"Tell them I won't be there, and I'm sorry."

"I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. I wish you had called me before. I would have taken you to the airport."

"I know, but I had finally stopped crying when I called you."

"I'm sorry Ariadne." She looked up and saw that Cobb, Arthur, and Eames were all staring at her intently listening to her every word. Now they knew she was talking to Ariadne, and that something was horribly wrong.

"They are staring at you aren't they?" Ariadne almost sounded amused.

"Yeah." Lena rolled her eyes.

"They are so funny. Tell them what's wrong. I know Eames and I were supposed to have lunch today. Tell him I'm sorry and that I'll owe him one. I'm sorry for not calling him myself."

"I will." She sighed. "I can't believe this about Ross. Let me know if there is anything I can do."

"I will Lena. This isn't your fault either."

"I hope it's not."

"If it's not mine it can't be yours either. I'll let you know how he is."

"Alright. Thanks for calling. Bye."

"Bye."

Lena sighed. "Well boys, Ariadne won't be coming in today." She hoped they would leave it at that. She didn't want to talk about it.

"Why not?" Cobb asked.

"Where is she? What's wrong?" Eames asked.

Of course they wouldn't leave it alone.

"She said she's sorry she can't have lunch with you today. Her cousin is in the hospital. She's flying to New York City to see him. She's not even sure he'll still be alive when she gets there."

"What happened?"

"He overdosed on some type of narcotic."

"That's horrible." Arthur said.

"It is. They were really close before she moved to Paris. He was a good friend of mine too."

Arthur wondered if there had been more between them.

"Oh Eames, she said she would owe you one."

Eames grinned. "That's fair enough. Although I would have done the same thing if I were her. I'll call her and leave a message. Thanks Love." He smiled.

"If you talk to her again let us know how everything is." Cobb said.

"I will. Thanks." She said.

Cobb nodded and walked away.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked.

She looked up at him and shrugged.

"It was a stupid question. You're upset. I'm sorry. Want to get some coffee?"

"Sure. Thanks Arthur." She hugged him.

Arthur was certain she wasn't mad at him.

* * *

Ariadne listened to Eames message and smiled. She promised herself she would call him after she went to the hospital. She caught a taxi to the hospital. It was just easier that way. Her dad left a message that Ross was still alive. She felt like she had held her breath the entire plane ride. She saw Ross, and was thrilled that he was still alive but he was far from okay. She sat outside the hospital and called Eames.

"Afternoon Love." He sounded cheery.

"Is it? It's 9 am here. I get so confused with the time change."

"How are you?"

"I don't know."

"How's your cousin?"

"He's still alive. He's got a long way to go though. I'm sorry to just bail on you."

"Well, Lena told me ahead of time. It's alright Love. I promise."

"Thank you." She smiled.

"Besides, she told me you said you would owe me one."

"I did. I think I owe you more than one."

"I won't complain about that."

"I didn't think you would."

"You know me so well. When do you think you'll be back?"

"I don't know yet. I'll probably be here for a few days. I want to talk to him, and he's not awake yet."

"Alright, well keep me posted."

"I will. Thanks."

"I love you Darling."

"I love you too Eames."

* * *

_Let me know what you think. Any suggestions would be great. Hopefully I'll get to update soon. :)_


	9. Chapter 8 – Remembering and Forgetting

_I've been working on this, but it's been a bit stubborn. I didn't exactly love the last chapter. I like this one more. :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Inception. I do however own the cake mix I bought earlier. I am having CAKE later._

_Also, I thought I was going to get to see Inception last weekend, but everyone 'had other plans'. Pshhh. I suppose I shall have to wait to see it until it's released on DVD._

_Thanks for all the reviews and for everyone who has favorited this story/subscribed to alerts. They make me happy. _

* * *

Chapter 8 – Remembering and Forgetting

"Are you feeling better?" Arthur asked Lena.

"Yeah. The coffee helped. Thanks." She smiled. "I still don't understand how that works." She furrowed her brow. "Is she going to be mad at me?"

"No. She knew we were going to do this. She asked _us_. She suggested we bring you in also. You did great." He smiled.

She blushed. "Does it get easier? Going in and coming out?"

"Yeah it does. Coffee helps, and sleep does too."

"What time is it?" She rubbed her head.

"Almost five. Aspirin helps too." He handed her two pills.

"Thanks."

"Why did her cousin Ross come into the dream? Is that what's been bothering her?"

"I see what you mean about controlling your subconscious."

"You seemed upset too. Did Ross overdose?"

"No. Ross never did drugs. He was a year younger than us. Ariadne and I were in Seattle for Fall Break. He was in a car accident on his way home from a football game or something. We couldn't get a flight until the next morning. By the time we got back to New York…" Her voice trailed off, and she let out a shaky breath. "He was gone." She whispered. She wiped her eyes. "Ariadne has always blamed herself. I told her it was just as much my fault as hers. Truth is if we had been there we probably would have been with him."

"I'm so sorry." Arthur reached across the table and held her hand. "If I had known I wouldn't have agreed to it. I wasn't sure what she was trying to gain. I'm sorry Lena. I didn't mean to hurt either you."

"It's not your fault Arthur. It brought back memories for me, but I think it reopened wounds for Ariadne that she never let heal. I hope this helps her."

* * *

"There, there Love." Eames kissed Ariadne's head. She was curled up in his lap like a child.

"Your shirt is wet, and covered in my makeup. I'm sorry." She sobbed.

"It's alright. I can change. I usually keep a spare here. If all else fails you'll just have to live with me being shirtless until I go home."

She snickered.

"I knew you still had your sense of humor. Are you feeling better?"

"A little. Thanks."

"Anytime."

"If you need to leave I'm fine."

"Nonsense. I don't have anywhere else to be. And even if I did I'd much rather sit here and hold you." The fingers on his right hand absently ran up and down her arm. He smiled at her.

She blushed. His smile made her brain melt. "I'm glad I did it. I think it's going to help." She leaned her head against his chest.

He tapped her chin causing her to look up at him. "I was worried about you. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I guess time will tell. If he doesn't show up in my dreams we'll know." _"Eames was worried? That's so sweet."_ She thought to herself.

"Fair enough." He leaned down and kissed her. The kiss was slow, sweet, and left her wanting more. Eames phone rang on the desk across the room. "I had to leave it on the desk." He grumbled.

She laughed at him. "You should get it. It's probably your darling Arthur." She started giggling at the thought.

"Very funny." Eames gave her a quick kiss as she stood up. "No, it's Cobb." He flipped open the phone. "Hey Dom." He winked at Ariadne. "No, no. She's fine. Don't worry. Who told you about that?" He rolled his eyes. "Of course it was Arthur." He grumbled. "Alright. We'll see you in a bit." He closed his phone and sighed.

"What?" She asked as he sat down next to her. "Eames?" She asked as he pulled her back into his lap.

"Cobb is fussy because we didn't tell him about your idea before we did it. Arthur told him, and I don't know why."

"Well, Cobb probably saw Arthur and asked him what he had accomplished and then Arthur told him." She smiled. "And most likely Cobb already fussed at Arthur, and then called to fuss at you."

"You'll be in the clear for this won't you?"

"Yes. He knew about it, and I was the subject of your prank."

"Let _that_ live forever!" Eames said sarcastically.

"Oh it will. You see, I'm like an elephant. I never forget." She giggled.

* * *

"I meant to ask you," Arthur looked at Lena as they walked back to the warehouse, "how did your test go?"

"I hope it went well. I find out tomorrow afternoon."

"Were you able to study enough for it?"

"Uh, I hope so. Sometimes I feel like I can never study enough. I hate it."

"That's not good." He said. He was concerned that she wasn't able to study because he kissed her. _"Way to sound conceited. Almost like Eames."_ He thought.

"No it's not, but in this case I had forgotten all about the test until we went by Ariadne's place and I saw her books. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I was mad at myself for forgetting. I never do that." She kicked a rock.

"I'm sorry." He offered.

"What for? It's not your fault I forgot. I was helping Ariadne out, and going to school, and sometimes still bartending. I was doing too much."

"I could have taken you straight home instead of taking you to Ariadne's with me."

"Yeah, but I didn't remember the test until I saw her books."

"Oh." He was going to have to ask her. "Then should I have not kissed you?"

She stopped and looked at him. "I don't know, but I liked it." She smiled blushing at her admission.

Arthur smiled, and held out his hand. She took it, and they intertwined their fingers.

* * *

Arthur and Lena walked into the warehouse to find Cobb involved in a very heated phone conversation. Arthur looked at Eames.

Eames just shrugged. "Something about the job." He whispered.

"Yes it is about the job." Cobb said after he hung up. "We have to finish tonight."

"Tonight?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, are you ready?"

"Of course I am, but you should really ask Eames." Arthur smarted.

"I did, and he's ready too."

"Oh." Arthur felt his cheeks burn. He realized that he was still holding Lena's hand. He knew Eames would say something about that.

"Arthur darling…" Eames began.

"Save it Eames." Cobb said. "We have to get ready. Lena, we'll need you too."

"Alright."

"What about me?"

"Until we know how your subconscious will react I can't let you in on this job. You can help Yusuf." He looked at his watch. "Who is late; of course." He rolled his eyes.

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. Eames grinned when Lena let go of Arthur's hand to help Ariadne with something.

* * *

"Ariadne, if Yusuf isn't here do you think you can handle it?" Cobb said.

"I'll be fine, and he'll be here." She turned to the door when she heard it open. Yusuf walked in lugging a bag with sedatives.

"Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time." He shrugged.

"Very well." Cobb sat down in the lawn chairs.

"Arthur, are we ever going to get something a little more comfortable or a little more fashionable?" Eames asked.

"No." Arthur said simply.

"Why not?"

"Because these bother you so much." Arthur smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"If you are all ready…" Yusuf said.

"I love you Ariadne." Eames smiled, and blew her a kiss.

"I love you too." She grinned.

"Five, four, three, two, one." Yusuf counted down and pressed the button.

* * *

_So what did you think? Let me know. Also, __I need an idea for a totem to give Lena. What do y'all think? I need it before I can post the next chapter. _

_Thanks! :)_


	10. Chapter 9 On Paradoxes

_First of all a huge shout out to Strange .x. And .x. Beautiful who gave me the idea for Lena's totem! Thank you so much! :)_

_Thanks also for the reviews! Y'all are great! :)_

* * *

The team woke up inside a room in a swanky hotel.

"I _so_ love it when Yusuf puts us this far under." Eames muttered sarcastically as he admired himself in a mirror.

"What do you mean?" Lena asked.

"We can't die in here. If we do, we go into limbo." He said. She looked confused. "Arthur, tell me you told her about limbo?" Eames seemed bored.

"Yes, I did." He looked at Lena. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did. I didn't realize we would be so deep."

"It's like the Fischer job all over again." Eames said. "It takes the fun out of it really." He shrugged.

"Did you bring your totem Lena?" Cobb asked her.

"It's in my bag." She smiled.

"Good. Always keep it with you. I'm sure Arthur told you that though."

"Yes he did." She smiled at Arthur.

"You two keep an eye out. Eames, let's go." Cobb said as he and Eames walked out.

"Shall we go dance?" Arthur asked Lena.

"Where?"

"Downstairs. This hotel has a ballroom. Besides, you _are_ dressed for it." He smirked. He was wearing a tuxedo, and she had to admit he looked very handsome. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a long, sleeveless, black dress. It had a modest cut in the front, and was open in the back. Her hair was swept to the side and held in place by a jeweled clip. Arthur cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry. Sure, let's go downstairs."

"You look stunning." Arthur smiled.

"You don't look so bad yourself." She blushed, and straightened his tie.

"Was it not straight?" He sounded alarmed.

"It's fine." She smiled.

He held out his arm for her, and they walked out of the room to the elevator. "The tricky part is blending in." Arthur whispered in Lena's ear.

She nodded.

"Just follow my lead." He smiled as they stepped off the elevator. They weaved their way through the lobby, and into the ballroom. "Darling, would you care to dance?" Arthur asked in a tone that mocked Eames.

"Of course." She smiled. Before she knew it her left hand was in his, and his right hand was pressed against her back nudging her closer to him. Then they were dancing. Well Arthur was dancing. She was trying to not step on his feet.

"I've never been ballroom dancing before." She admitted.

"I only know how because my mother made me as a child. She promised me that one day I'd impress a woman with it." He smirked.

"Well, it impresses me." She whispered in his ear.

He spun her, and dipped her. He pulled her up and smiled. Her cheeks were flushed. "So much for blending in." She teased.

"Quick, give me a kiss." He pulled her close. She draped her arms over his shoulders and kissed him.

"Pardon me." Someone tapped Lena's shoulder. She pulled away from Arthur and turned around. It was Eames. "May I have this dance?" He held out his hand. He motioned to Arthur to join Cobb at the bar.

"Yes you may." She took Eames hand and they danced.

Arthur rolled his eyes, and walked over to the bar. "Yes?" He asked Cobb.

"It's not there."

"What's not there? The safe?"

"Sh." Cobb hissed. "Yes." He glanced around.

"I, I don't know where else it would be."

"We looked in the other offices. Nothing."

"Look in room 210." Lena whispered. She and Eames had finished dancing, and walked over to them.

"What makes you say that?" Cobb asked.

"The number kept coming up. Maybe it's in that room."

"It's possible." Arthur said.

Eames ordered a drink. He looked at Lena, "Do you want a drink Darling?" He asked earning a groan from Arthur.

"No thank you. I brought my own." She opened her purse and pulled out a small shot glass. She set it down on the bar and it filled with an amber liquid.

"Rum?" Eames asked.

"No." Lena said before she downed the drink. "Vodka." She set the glass back in her purse. "It looks like rum to you, but to me it's vodka."

"May I?" He asked.

"Nope. Only I can touch it. Something about… paradox." She smiled.

Eames grinned. "I should have come up with a totem like that." He said.

"No, then you would be completely snockered the whole time." Cobb chuckled. "Arthur, you and Lena go to the room. Eames and I will wait for you in the Lobby."

"Alright." Arthur took the master key from Cobb.

* * *

"Arthur, this doesn't feel right." Lena said.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he opened the door.

"There aren't any people on this floor."

"It's fine." He smiled. They walked into the room. "There's the safe." He glanced around the room. He knelt down and entered the combination. He pulled out some papers and tucked them inside his blazer. "That's it. Let's go." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room.

"Why the urgency?"

"You're right. Something is wrong. We have to check on Cobb and Eames." He said as he started hearing music. "No, not yet. It's too soon." He sighed.

"Mine's on too." She heard distant music.

They stepped off the elevator. The lobby was empty. Well, almost. Cobb was standing over Eames. "What happened?" Arthur demanded.

"Lena!" A voice called.

She spun around. "Ty! What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you, and save you."

"Ty, I'm fine." She knew he was just a projection.

"No, you aren't safe. Let's go." He grabbed her arm.

"Let go." She jerked her arm away.

"Do you want me to shoot him again?"

"You shot that man?" She pointed to Eames.

"Let's just go. I want to keep you safe."

"She's fine." Arthur said. He pulled his gun out and shot Ty. The projection disappeared.

"Oh my gosh!" Lena screamed covering her mouth.

"It's not real." Arthur assured her.

"I know." She set her totem on the counter and took another drink just to be sure. She looked over at Eames.

"How do you know him?" Eames sputtered.

"That's Ty. He's, he's my brother." She kneeled down beside Eames. "How many times did he shoot you?"

"Hell if I know. I think he emptied a round in me. Do you suppose he's mad because I broke his nose?"

"I don't know." Lena's eyes filled with tears. Eames was going to die. That meant he would fall into limbo.

"Don't worry about me Darling." He patted her cheek. "I'll be fine. Tell Ariadne I'm sorry, and that I love her."

"I will." Lena nodded.

"Arthur Darling, will you do the honors?"

"Eames, I can't." Arthur said.

"Oh, bloody Hell Arthur! Just pull the trigger, and put me out of my misery. Admit it. You've always wanted to shoot me."

"No, we just have a few more minutes. Hang on." Arthur grabbed him by his blazer and shook him. Arthur could feel himself being pulled away; out of the dream.

* * *

"Yusuf! What's wrong?" Ariadne demanded. Eames was twitching, and his face was contorted like he was in the midst of a nightmare.

"I, uh, um… I…" Yusuf stuttered.

"Just spit it out!" Ariadne yelled.

"I think he's dying."

"WHAT?"

"In the dream Ariadne, not reality."

"He'll go into limbo." She felt panic rise within her.

"Yes he will." Yusuf rubbed his face. "We can only hope that he holds on until they can all come out." His attempt to reassure her failed.

* * *

_I'm almost done with the next chapter, and I'll probably post it tomorrow. If you have any comments/suggestions let me know. Thanks! :)_


	11. Chapter 10 Nightmare

_Here is Chapter 10. I know some of you expressed some confusion, and I hope this clears it up a bit. Thanks for all the reviews. :) It's a long chapter so I hope you enjoy. :)_

_P.S. I own nothing. Not even the plot line apparently as the character's tried to take over this one._

* * *

Nightmare

One by one they woke up. First Arthur, then Lena, and then Cobb. Ariadne held her breath. A few seconds passed. It felt like forever. Arthur stood up and swore under his breath. Lena gasped and covered her mouth. Ariadne collapsed in a chair. She felt like she had been kicked in the stomach. Eames was…

"He didn't make it out in time." Arthur interrupted her thoughts as he checked Eames' pulse. "He's still alive. He's just in limbo."

Ariadne started sobbing. Lena sat beside her and hugged her. "He, he wanted me to tell you that he was sorry." She was trying not to cry. "And that he loves you." She started crying. Ariadne cried harder.

"We have to do something." Ariadne blurted.

"And we will." Cobb reached over and took her hands in his.

"I want to go in."

"I can't let you. You've not been back in since your nightmares started and limbo isn't the place to try it out."

"I've been in limbo before. I can do it."

"I know you can."

"Then why can't I go?"

"I don't trust your subconscious." He tried to say it as kindly as possible. She seemed to understand.

"Bring him back to me."

"I will."

"And yourself." She hugged him.

"I will." He smiled. "Yusuf, put me under." He said as he stretched out in the chair, and put the needle in his arm.

* * *

Eames' eyes fluttered open. He swore under his breath. He was in limbo. There wasn't anything he could do about it, but sit and wait. Or walk, and wait. Regardless there would be a lot of waiting. Eames wasn't a patient man. The last time he had dropped into limbo he thought he had been there for at least sixty years. He hoped he wouldn't be here that long. He came out the last time not even able to remember his own name. This time around he was more concerned with remembering Ariadne's name. The thought of forgetting her made his stomach sick. He stood up and stretched. He might as well walk or something. He'd be doing it for a while so he might as well start now.

* * *

Lena was close to dozing off when her phone rang. Arthur had promised he'd drive her home, but he had to talk to Ariadne first, and make sure she was okay.

"Hello?" She yawned.

"Hey Sis. Were you sleeping?"

"No, I'm just tired. What's up Ty?"

"I'm about to board a plane. I'm headed to Paris."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, my flight gets in around 7 am. How about breakfast around 9ish?"

"That should be fine." She thought she heard Arthur behind her, but she didn't turn around.

"Do you mind if I crash on your couch?"

"No as long as this isn't one of your schemes."

"It's not. I swear."

"Because if it is, I swear I will call the police, and you will spend two hours in custody before they realize that you're an American and that I know you."

"I promise it's not." He said. She thought she heard another voice.

"Is someone with you?"

"I'm in an airport Lena."

"I know that. Who is with you?"

"Someone who wants to see you. That's all I'm saying. I'll see you at 9."

"I'll have the police on standby, because if you bring who I think you are bringing I'll have you both sent to jail."

"You need to get some sleep. You've turned into a grouch."

"Just remember who agreed to go to breakfast with you, and who is letting you sleep on her couch."

"I remember. Talk to you later Sis. Bye."

"Bye."

"You're going to breakfast?" Arthur asked.

"Yes. How long were you standing there Arthur?"

"Just a minute. I heard about breakfast and something about someone crashing on your couch."

"How's Ariadne?"

"I think she's okay. I told her to go home, but she wants to wait here for Eames." He sat down beside her.

"I'm glad she's okay. I wish I could do something else for her, but I know she needs space. If you're done I'm ready to go home. I'm really tired."

"Maybe I'm not ready to take you home." He said. He cursed himself when her eyes got real big. The statement didn't come out the way he wanted it to.

"If it's too much trouble for you I can walk." She started to stand up.

"No. That's not what I meant." He grabbed her hand, and pulled her back down.

"Well then you'd better start talking, and fast." Hurt flashed in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't what I was going to say. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out tomorrow, but if you have company…"

She kissed him. "Arthur, shut up." She mumbled as she wrapped her arms around him.

He pulled her closer and kissed her back.

"Arthur." She pulled away. "My brother is flying to Paris as we speak. He wants to have breakfast in the morning, and crash on my couch so he doesn't have to pay for a hotel."

"Oh." Arthur felt stupid.

"Supposedly he is bringing someone with him who could range anywhere from my ex boyfriend to his new girlfriend. I've told him I have the police on standby."

"I take it you don't want to see your ex?"

"Would you?"

"Well, no."

"Exactly. Besides, I wouldn't be kissing you if I wanted to see him." She kissed him. Arthur blushed. "Will you go with me in the morning? He's supposed to be at my place at 9."

"Of course." He smiled.

"Thank you Arthur!" She hugged him.

"You're welcome."

"Will you take me home now?" She pouted.

"Yes." He rolled his eyes. "I am sorry about that."

"It's okay Arthur. I promise." She wrapped her arm around him.

"Are you guys leaving?" Ariadne asked.

"Yeah, are you going to be alright?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Ariadne, remember what I told you. Don't go in there."

"Okay Arthur. I won't. Happy?"

"Only if you listen to me."

"You are such a control freak."

"No, I'm worried about you. Don't do it."

"Okay." She sat down on the couch. "I'll go to sleep. Can I at least do that Mr. Control Freak?" She rolled her eyes.

"Yes. Sleep well." He smirked.

"Good night Ariadne. Call me if you need anything." Lena hugged her.

"I will. Thanks."

"Yusuf, watch her." Arthur warned the chemist.

"I will." He nodded.

* * *

Eames wondered how long it was going to take. He figured it had been a month at least. Maybe even two. After a week he started seeing her. He was surprised it wasn't sooner. She would start talking to him, and eventually she quit making sense and he realized he was still in limbo. She was just a projection. He would tell her to go away and she did. That wasn't the worst of it.

"Why are you marking the wall?" She asked him one day.

"I mark it for every day that goes by."

"Why? Are you counting down to something?"

"What do you think?"

"I think you want to leave me." She pouted.

"I don't _want_ to leave you."

"Then stay." She smiled.

"I can't. I don't really have a choice in the matter."

"It isn't fair. I don't understand why you can't stay with me." She frowned. He was reminded just by her actions that he was still in limbo. This wasn't _his_ Ariadne. She wasn't this clingy. She wasn't this needy.

He sighed. He refused to call her by name. He didn't want to chance losing himself.

"I'll see you tomorrow Love." She kissed his cheek.

That was another thing. Ariadne had never called him 'Love'.

* * *

"So why didn't they let you go in?" Yusuf asked. Silence made him nervous.

"Because of my nightmares."

"When did you start having them?"

"Several nights ago. So I asked the team to go into my dreams. Apparently it was caused by guilt I had over my cousin's death. A projection of my cousin kept showing up. It was horrible. Now they don't trust my subconscious. They want to be able to test it. There was the job, and now limbo. Neither place is good for testing ones subconscious, or so I am told." She shrugged.

"No they aren't. It can be very dangerous." He paused. "What happened to him? Your cousin?"

"He died in a car accident. I was supposed to be with him, but I was on the other side of the country. Knowing it's not your fault, and believing it's not your fault are two different things."

"Yes they are." Yusuf gave her a smile.

* * *

Eames rolled over in bed and looked at the wall. Another day. It had been almost a year. Didn't seem like that long. He flipped his totem. Yep, still dreaming. He sighed. He wondered if sleeping with a projection was something one didn't do – not shouldn't for he knew he _shouldn't_. He was sure Cobb would frown on it. The others might even expect it from him. He felt wrong for it. That was something new. _Feeling guilty for having sex with a projection of your girlfriend whilst in limbo?_ This was definitely a new feeling for him. One he didn't like. He especially didn't like the way that he was one step closer to losing himself.

* * *

Ariadne had dozed off for a little while. She woke up, and Yusuf was sleeping. _"Perfect."_ She walked over to one of the lawn chairs. She knew she shouldn't, but she had to. She knew it was dangerous, but she needed to be able to save Eames herself. She felt so useless sitting out. She laid back and placed the needle in her arm.

* * *

"Arthur," Lena giggled as he kissed her neck. "I don't think we should be doing this."

"Why's that?" He looked up. He had her pressed against the door, and her face was flushed.

"Maybe we should actually go inside my apartment. I don't want to give any of my neighbors a heart attack. They cook for me sometimes." She grinned.

Arthur laughed, and kissed her. "Alright." He picked up her bag.

She smiled and unlocked her door.

"Goodnight." He kissed her cheek.

"I didn't say you had to leave. I just said I didn't think we should make out in the hallway." She laughed, and pulled him inside.

* * *

Yusuf woke up and saw that Ariadne had gone under. "This is bad. This is very bad." He started swearing. He picked up his phone and called Arthur. It rang, and rang, and rang. No answer. He called again. No answer. He figured he'd try a third time. Something about the third time being the charm.

"What?" Arthur asked obviously irritated.

"Why didn't you answer?" Yusuf fussed.

"Maybe I was busy." He snipped.

"Oh." Yusuf winced. "Uh, Ariadne went in."

"She what! You were supposed to be watching her."

"I know, but she was sleeping, and then I fell asleep."

"Alright." Arthur sighed. "Just keep an eye on her."

"I will. Sorry." Yusuf said and hung up the phone.

Arthur rubbed his face and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Lena asked.

"Ariadne went under. She waited until Yusuf fell asleep."

"I figured she would."

"Then why didn't you say something?"

"Really Arthur? This surprises you?"

"Well, no."

"If someone you cared about was trapped in limbo wouldn't you go in?"

"Of course I would. I can't blame her. I just don't want anything to happen to her."

"I don't either, but she'll be fine." She tried to sound reassuring.

"I'm going to go back to the warehouse." He stood up and picked up his coat.

"What for?"

"I'll just feel better if I'm there."

"Alright then." She stood up, and re-buttoned her shirt. "Eames was right about you." She whispered in his ear.

"What about me?"

"I promised him I wouldn't tell." She winked.

"What did that moron say about me this time?"

"Oh fine. He said that you're a workaholic, and that you can't get laid to save your life." She smirked. She opened the door for him.

He thought about telling her that it wasn't all true, and that Eames wouldn't say that. But he knew that Eames _would_ say exactly that.

"I'll see you in the morning." She kissed his cheek.

He thought about it for a second. He closed the door, and kissed her. "I can go by there later." He smirked.

* * *

Cobb finally happened upon a house that looked strangely familiar to Eames'. He walked inside. "Hello?"

"Oh, great. Now I'm hallucinating about you. Perfect." Eames groaned.

"What are you talking about?"

"First it was her. For years." He still refused to say her name. "Now you. Perfect. I've lost it, and it's been ten years."

"How do you know how long?"

"I draw a mark on the wall for every day. Or for everything I think is a day. I go to sleep when it's dark. I wake up and it's light again. One day." He shrugged.

Cobb sighed. Eames was losing himself.

"She quit coming around for a little while after I slept with her."

"You what? She's not real."

"I know that. I think I even knew that at the time."

"I found you! Both of you!" Ariadne smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Cobb asked sternly.

"You really expected me to listen to you?"

"Well, no." Cobb rolled his eyes.

"Not you. Not again." Eames said.

"What's wrong? It's really me. The real me." She took a step toward him.

"Prove it." He crossed his arms, and took a step back. "Prove to me you aren't another projection."

"Prove it? How?" She started thinking. "I love you. I miss you. I want you to come back with me."

"What? You don't want me to stay here?"

"Of course I don't. This place looks like Hell."

"What's my name? My real full name?"

"I, I don't know. You never told me." She was confused. Why would he ask her a question that she didn't know? _"Duh Ariadne! He's trying to figure out if you're real or just another projection."_

"Every projection knew it. You're real." He smiled.

"Let's get you out of here." She held out her hand.

He took it and smiled. "Alright, but first come here." He pulled her close and kissed her.

Cobb smirked. Looked like they didn't need him after all.

* * *

_Well? Let me know what you think. Is it confusing? Too far fetched? Thanks for reading. If you have any suggestions or questions let me know. :)_

_P.S. The characters decided they would do their own thing as you probably noticed... Oh sigh..._


	12. Chapter 11 Aftermath

_So first of all, thanks to Voldemort's Spawn for her review and critique. :) I have worked hard on this chapter and I hope that my dialogue is less Rocky and Bullwinkle-ish. :D_

_I don't own Inception, just my ideas. Sigh..._

* * *

**Aftermath**

Yusuf was sleeping when Cobb woke up. "Yusuf. Wake up!" Cobb shook him.

"Wha? Oh! Cobb, you're awake." Yusuf sat up.

"Yes I am." He rolled his eyes.

"Did you find them?" Yusuf asked as Ariadne and Eames woke up. "Ariadne! Eames!" He smiled.

Ariadne sat up and smiled at Eames as if to say, _"I found you. You're alright now."_

Eames slowly took the needle out of his arm, and closed his eyes. He didn't say anything. He just sat there as if lost in thought.

Ariadne looked at Cobb.

"Give him time." Cobb whispered. He knew how difficult coming out of limbo was.

Ariadne nodded. She sat in her chair, and watched Eames. He seemed at peace. When she found him in limbo he looked more like a lost and frustrated little child than the strong, confident man that she loved. She would have to wait. She would wait as long as she had to.

* * *

"Good morning." Arthur murmured as he kissed Lena's cheek.

"Ack!" She screamed and jumped out of the bed. Well, she tried to jump. He woke her out of a dead sleep, and she jumped only to fall on the floor. "Oomph." She moaned as she hit the floor.

Arthur rolled over and peered over the side of the bed. "Are you okay?" He raised an eyebrow. She was on the floor staring at the ceiling.

"You scared the Hell out of me!" She glared at him.

"I take it you're not used to someone kissing you good morning?" He smirked.

"No." She sat up and tried to steady her breathing. "Besides, I thought you left." She stood up slowly.

"Why would I leave?"

"I don't know." She shrugged before plopping herself back on the bed beside him. "Your phone rang. Yusuf?"

"Yeah. I vaguely remember talking to him. I walked out so I wouldn't wake you up." He kissed her.

"That's sweet of you. Did Yusuf need anything important?" She yawned.

"No. He was bored. I'd told him I'd come by later in the morning." He threaded his fingers through her hair. She smiled at him, and he was certain that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her lips still looked a little swollen from their kisses. She was wearing his shirt. She had made sure it was wrinkled as much as possible just to irritate him. If it had been anyone else he would have protested. She had giggled, and kissed him.

"You know what I think?" She swung her leg over his hip.

"What?" He rubbed her upper thigh with his thumb.

"I think that when Eames comes out of limbo I should tell him he was wrong about you." A smirk played on her lips.

Not what he was hoping she was thinking. He sighed. "Please don't."

"Aw, Arthur. Why not?" She pouted.

"I don't need him giving me more grief than he already does." He sighed.

"I was only going to tell him you weren't a workaholic." She said.

"But then he'd give me Hell about not getting laid." He blushed.

"I have a confession." She smiled sheepishly. Arthur looked concerned. "Eames didn't really tell me that. I made it up." She giggled. The look on Arthur's face was priceless. "You should see your face." She giggled.

He blushed. "I should have known, but I knew that was something that Eames would say." He pulled her on top of him and kissed her.

"Would it have made a difference?" She ran her hands through his hair. "Would you have stayed if you knew Eames wasn't taunting you?" Now it was her turn to look concerned.

"Yes." He whispered in her ear. "Regardless of what Eames said or didn't say. I fell for that one, and I'm glad I did." They kissed.

Her phone rang. "What?" She fussed.

"Hey Sis, my flight got in early. Want to bump up breakfast?"

"What time is it?"

"7. Just got through customs. Are you sleeping?"

"Not anymore." She yawned. "I figured I had another two hours."

"I thought you had class."

"Afternoon."

"Oh, sorry. So you would rather meet at 9?" He seemed hesitant.

"Yes. I'll see you at 9. Bye." She hung up the phone. "I thought it was later." She moaned. "I should get up." She rolled over.

"In that case I'll go back to my place, and change." He sat up. "Do you want me to meet you here at 9? Or maybe a little before?"

"That would be great." She smiled. "Thank you Arthur." She kissed him.

* * *

"Did you call Arthur and Lena?" Ariadne asked Cobb. They were sitting in his office. "Not yet. I figured they would still be asleep." He rubbed his face. He was concerned about Eames.

"Arthur will be here at 8, and Lena has breakfast with her brother at 9 so she's awake too." Ariadne picked up on Cobb's mood. "He'll be alright." She offered. She had to keep telling herself that.

"I know. Did you know he has been in limbo before?"

"No."

"He was in there for sixty years maybe. When we got him out he couldn't even remember his own name. Don't be surprised if he can't remember yours."

"How long was he in this time?"

"He said ten years. It was probably longer than that. Much longer, and we would have had a problem getting him out. He started losing himself. I'm sorry Ariadne." He offered a weak smile.

Ariadne swallowed hard to try to get rid of the lump in her throat. No luck. "I'm going to call Arthur."

Cobb nodded. He walked out of his office to check on Eames.

"Hey Arthur." She tried to sound upbeat.

"Ariadne! Did you bring Eames out?"

"Yes."

"Is he alright?"

"It's hard to tell. He hasn't said anything. Cobb is really worried."

"He'll pull through. Don't worry."

"I'll try not to." She sighed. It was easier said than done.

"Did you call Lena?"

"Not yet."

"Alright. I can stop and pick her up."

Ariadne smirked. "You like her don't you Arthur?"

"Well, I mean… Yeah. I do."

Ariadne pictured him blushing. "I'm glad Arthur. She needs someone like you in her life."

* * *

Eames still hadn't said anything by the time Arthur and Lena arrived. They stood there for a moment watching him. Lena finally broke the silence. She couldn't contain her guilt anymore.

"Eames, I'm sorry." She whispered.

His eyelids flew open. "It's not your fault Love." He gave her a small smile.

"But I…"

"My projection. Not yours." He reached up and squeezed her hand. "No worries."

She knew he was concerned. She felt better knowing that it was his projection, and not hers.

"What happened in there?" Ariadne was almost afraid to ask.

"A projection of Lena's brother shot me. I told Arthur he could finish me off if he wanted, but he said no." Eames rolled his eyes.

"Why was there a projection of Ty?"

"I don't know." Eames shrugged. "But what I _do_ know is that I'm going home to sleep. I am tired of you people watching me as if I were a lab animal." He stood up, and looked like he almost lost his balance.

"Are you alright?" Ariadne touched his arm.

"I'm fine Darling. I'll see you later." He kissed her forehead.

"I'll take you home." Cobb said.

"Arthur." Eames looked at him. "You look more relaxed this morning than usual. Did Lena take that stick out of your ass last night?"

Arthur's eyes got big. "Eames!"

Lena covered her mouth, and tried to hide the growing blush on her cheeks.

"Well, well. It looks like our point man _can_ get laid after all." Eames smirked.

Arthur turned red and Lena giggled.

"Way to go Arthur." Eames winked at him, and clapped him on the back.

"Let's go." Cobb rolled his eyes.

Ariadne waited until Cobb and Eames were gone to say anything. "Do you two have anything you would like to share with me?" She pretended to be cross.

"I think Eames said everything that could be said." Arthur shrugged.

"Arthur drove me home last night, and I dunno." Lena blushed.

Ariadne grinned. "I just wanted to hear the two of you admit you had feelings for each other." She hugged Lena and then Arthur. "Are you going to breakfast together?"

"Yeah. Ty has a surprise guest."

"Oh. Wow."

"Yeah, so I asked Arthur to go with me."

"Well, have fun, and good luck!"

* * *

"Sorry about Eames. Are you alright?" Arthur asked Lena when they were back in his car.

"I'm fine Arthur." She smiled.

"Welcome to life with Eames." He grinned.

Lena laughed. Then she leaned over and kissed him. Something inside of her wanted to scream that she loved him. No, she wasn't going to make that mistake again.

* * *

"Ariadne." Cobb didn't seem surprised to see her. "Come in."

"How is he?"

"I've tried to talk to him. He doesn't seem to want to talk to me. Maybe he'll talk to you." He shrugged.

"I'll see what I can do."

"He's in his room. Around the corner." He pointed. "I'll see you later."

"Thanks." She smiled, and walked to Eames' room.

"Hi Eames." She smiled. He was sitting on his bed pouring over a folder.

"Hullo Love." He looked up and smiled.

"Are you actually working?"

"Don't tell Arthur. I'll never live it down." He chuckled. "Come sit." He patted the bed.

She sat down beside him. "Are you alright?"

"I told you already. I'm fine Darling." He stroked her cheek.

"You know if I believed that I wouldn't be here."

"I know." He whispered.

"Well?" She touched his shoulder. He winced. "Are these bruises?" She looked closer at his arms and chest.

"Yes." He sighed. "That's all you have to say? Nothing about my being shirtless?" He grumbled.

"Only after I know that you're okay. What's going on?" She tried to stay focused. Eames was quite the distraction, and so full of himself. She had to admit – to herself anyway – that he _did_ look good shirtless.

"Well, if you must know." He rolled his eyes. "I've been studying up on our latest mark. I got the bloody hell beat out of me the other day."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want you to worry."

"I wouldn't have sat in your lap."

"Precisely my point Love! If I had told you about it you would have insisted on sitting on the other side of the room or something equally absurd. I've had worse than this before. But it's better this time."

"That makes no sense."

"I've never had you before to keep my mind off of it. Makes it so much easier." He winked at her. She felt her cheeks burn. "And the time I spent holding you was the best thing I've done in a long time." He grinned.

"Are you _trying_ to get me in bed with you?"

"What are you talking about?" He tried to play innocent.

"Seriously? Eames."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't have to try. Might I point out that you are sitting on my bed?"

She groaned.

"Besides, every word I've said has been true." He kissed her forehead. "You want to know what happened to me in limbo. Don't you?"

"Yes."

"You know what they say Ariadne. Curiosity killed the cat."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"There are some things that you don't need to know. It's better that way."

"What if I drag it out of you?" She asked as she straddled his waist.

"I'd love to see you try." He smirked.

She smirked and ghosted her lips over his. This was going to be fun.

* * *

_Well, what did you think? Good? Bad? Just okay?_

_And as for what happens next... Well, I'm not sure yet. Give me ideas and let me know what you think should happen. Every idea helps. Thanks! :)_


	13. Chapter 12 Don't Forget

_Sorry it took so long to update. This chapter was having issues. I think I worked them all out though. If not, let me know. I know this is long, but hopefully it's okay. I couldn't find a good place to split it up. Maybe it makes up for the time it took to write it..._

_I don't own Inception, the characters, or "Don't Forget" by Demi Lovato. __I do however own the original characters. They are MINE! Mwahaha… Ahem. Sorry about that..._

* * *

**Don't Forget**

Ariadne smiled as she watched Eames sleep. He looked so peaceful; no longer conflicted. From following Cobb into limbo during the Fischer job, Ariadne knew how screwed up limbo was. She couldn't imagine what Cobb and Saito went through. Neither of them really talked about it. Eames didn't want to talk about it, but he wasn't the only one who was good at extracting secrets from people. Ariadne had learned a thing or two of her own from watching various jobs. She'd also learned by watching Lena bartend. She'd seen guys at the bar willing to jump off a cliff if Lena told them too. Her thoughts came back to Eames as he stirred, but didn't wake up. She had successfully extracted everything she wanted to know about what happened in limbo. She told him she would drag it out of him. He had smirked and said _"I'd love to see you try."_ It was a challenge. He didn't think she would be able to do it. He was wrong. For every kiss she gave him he had to tell her something. At first it was just silly tidbits of information. She could tell he _really_ didn't want to talk about it. She knew he wanted her in bed with him maybe as much as she wanted to be in it with him. He smirked when she threw her shirt on the floor. He rolled over so he was hovering over her. He kissed her slowly and sweetly; determined to make love to her in such a way that she knew how much he cared for. And how thankful he was that she was real, and he wasn't lost anymore. Afterward he told her everything. How he slept with a projection of her. How he had come very close to losing himself. How he had refused to call her projections by name because he knew that he would lose himself entirely – just as Cobb would never look at his children's faces in the dream world. He was scared that he would never get out, and if he did that he would have forgotten her.

"_I can't imagine a world where I had never known you, or worse, forgotten about you. I love you so much Ari."_ Tears had filled his eyes. He had blinked to try to get rid of them, but they stayed.

"_I love you too."_ She kissed him.

"_Andrew."_ He whispered.

"_What?" _She was confused.

"_My first name. That's how I knew you were real in limbo, and not another projection. I had never told you my real name. Not even Cobb or Arthur knows."_ He smiled – almost as if he was relieved to tell her.

"_I love you Andrew." _She smiled.

* * *

Ariadne rolled over when her phone buzzed. She saw a text message from Lena. _"SOS! Meet in 15."_ Ariadne sighed. This wasn't good. In fact it was very, very bad. She got out of bed to pick up her clothes.

"Where are you going?" Eames asked startling her.

She turned around and saw him smiling at her. She smiled back. "I have class in a bit, and I got a text from Lena to meet her in 15 minutes." She got dressed.

"Is everything alright?" He sat up and cracked his neck.

"No. I've gotten a text like that from her before." She sighed and sat down beside him.

"What's wrong?" He slipped his arm around her waist.

"The last time she and Sebastian had broken up." She figured that Sebastian had come to breakfast.

"Did her and Arthur…" He began. As much as he enjoyed getting under the point man's skin – he was thrilled that Arthur and Lena were together (or whatever they were), and Arthur by default was leaving him alone.

"No. Ty had a 'surprise' guest this morning, and my guess is that it was Sebastian. Their breakup was nasty. It took Lena a long time to get over it, and a long time for me to help her pick up the pieces." She tried not to start crying. She wasn't sure if she was going to kill Ty or Sebastian first. Maybe she would flip a coin… "I'll come by and see you later." She kissed his cheek.

"Alright. I'll either be here or at the warehouse talking to Cobb. Thank you for listening."

"You're welcome." She kissed him.

* * *

Lena sat on the metro trying to hold herself together. She wanted to cry and scream. She had already punched the wall of the car and her hand started to swell. Breakfast had not gone well at all.

"_Hey Lena!" _Ty hugged her.

"_Hey Tyler." _She smiled._ "This is Arthur." _She introduced them.

"_Nice to meet you." _Ty shook Arthur's hand.

"_Likewise." _Arthur smiled.

"_So who is this surprise?" _Lena sat down.

"_I'm engaged!"_

"_Ohmigosh! Ty that's great. Who is she?"_

"_Jenny." _He grinned._ "She was on the phone. She should be back any second."_

"_Lena!" _Jenny squealed.

"_Jenny!" _Lena jumped out of her seat and hugged her._ "Arthur this is Jenny. Jenny, Arthur."_

"_Hi Arthur. Nice to meet you."_ She shot Ty a look. He shrugged.

"_You too." _Arthur smiled, inwardly relieved that he was meeting Ty's fiancée and not Lena's ex boyfriend.

"_Lena!"_ Another voice said.

Lena froze.

"_How are you?" _He asked.

Lena didn't respond. She just glared at Ty. She wasn't sure how she could feel love **and** hatred for her brother at the same time. She hoped that if she glared at him hard enough he might spontaneously combust.

"_Lena…" _Ty began.

"_I don't want to hear it."_ She turned to Arthur. _"I forgot some things for class, and I have to make another stop. So I'll just take the metro."_ She was about to explode, or burst into tears. She didn't want to be around them for either.

Arthur knew it was probably best to not argue. He figured the other man was Lena's ex. _"Alright. If you change your mind and you want a ride just let me know."_ At least she wasn't happy to see him whoever he was.

"_I will. Thank you." _She kissed his mouth. Arthur smiled.

"_Do you mind if I go with you?"_ Jenny asked.

"_Not at all."_ Lena smiled.

* * *

"…_Did you forget about me? Did you regret ever standing by my side? Did you forget what we were feeling inside? Now I'm left to forget about us…__ But somewhere we went wrong. We were once so strong. Our love is like a song. You can't forget it.__ So now I guess this is where we have to stand. Did you regret ever holding my hand? Never again. Please don't forget… We had it all. We were just about to fall even more in love. Than we were before… I won't forget about us… And at last all the pictures have been burned. And all the past is just a lesson that we've learned. I won't forget… Somewhere we went wrong. Our love is like a song, but you won't sing along. You've forgotten about us…"_

* * *

"It's not Tyler's fault." Jenny said.

"How's that? It's something he would do."

"We ran into Sebastian at the airport. He was flying to Paris to surprise you. He was just going to show up at your door. Tyler talked him into coming with us. Then he could control the situation better."

"I wish he had told him not to come." Lena muttered.

"Maybe he did, but Sebastian was dead set on coming." Jenny was wishing that Tyler had convinced Sebastian not to come at all. She told him it was a bad idea. He had told her it would be alright. He hoped so anyway.

"Why? Why does he need to see me after all this time?" Lena's voice was high pitched and starting to crack.

"I, I don't know Lena. I'm sorry."

"Why didn't Ty tell me? He knew. He knew how bad it was. Why did he do that to me?" Lena's voice cracked.

"I guess he thought it would be less of an issue." She shrugged. She was going to slug Tyler when she saw him.

"My hand hurts." Lena blurted. Jenny hugged her.

The metro stopped, and Ariadne stepped on. "Jenny!" She hugged her.

"Hey Ariadne."

"Oh Lena." Ariadne sat down and hugged her. Lena burst into tears.

"I decided I'd flip a coin and decide which one of them I would kill first." She tried to get Lena to laugh.

It worked. "You can kill Sebastian first. After I talk to him. Maybe."

"Are you going to talk to him?"

"I don't know if I can. He spoke to me at the café, but I couldn't respond. All those memories came pouring back." She rubbed her hand. "And I punched the wall and it really hurt. I told Arthur I had to get some things for class, and that I'd just take the metro. He's so sweet Ari. I really like him." She smiled through her tears.

Ariadne knew that _'really like'_ was Lena's code for love. She knew that Lena might never say she loved someone again. Sebastian ruined it. They were living together, and one day Lena made the _mistake_ of telling him that she loved him. He went nuts. He screamed and cursed at her. Ariadne wondered if he hit her, but she said he didn't. The night it happened Lena drank herself under the table, and never drank much after that. The experience in a hospital was enough to keep her from getting drunk again. At least Ariadne hoped it was.

* * *

"Where's Lena?" Eames asked when Ariadne walked in the warehouse.

"She had to go to work." Ariadne didn't want to talk about it. It hurt too much. She was angry at Ty and Sebastian.

"Is she alright?" Arthur asked.

"Define _alright_." Ariadne sighed.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "So the guy who showed up was her ex?" He crossed his arms.

"Yeah. Ty won't answer my calls. Maybe Jenny will talk some sense into him." She knew Arthur was just as worried as she was.

"I sent Lena a message and told her to let me know if she needed anything." He smiled.

"Thank you Arthur. She'll call you when she needs you." She smiled. Ariadne knew that Lena would call Arthur. She just didn't know when.

"_When."_ Arthur thought. He was glad it was _when_ and not _if_.

* * *

"I think you have hit your limit Missy." Tony told Lena.

"Nonsense." She swatted his hand away when he reached for her glass. "I'm fine."

"You know, drunks are _never_ drunk." He smirked.

"Tony." Her speech was slurred and she pointed at him. "I swear to drunk I'm not God." She hiccupped.

"Darling, I know you're not God, but you _are_ drunk." He took the glass from her hand. "Why did Ariadne let you out of her sight?" He sighed.

"I told her I was going to work. I didn't know you were working." She knew Ariadne would be mad at her.

"You started drinking before you got here. Didn't you?"

"Almost a fifth of vodka." She giggled.

He sighed. "How did your test go?"

"I got a B. Ariadne got an A. Of course." She rolled her eyes.

"Give me your phone." He held out is hand.

"Why?" She handed it him.

"I'm calling Ariadne." He dialed the number.

"Noooo! Don't call her. She'll be mad at me." She whined.

"She'll want to know that you're in trouble." He moved the bottles behind the bar so that they were out of her reach.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Hey Ariadne."

"Tony?" She expected Lena's voice.

"Yeah. You need to come get her. She thought she had to work."

"She's drunk. Isn't she?"

"Well, she swears to drunk she's not God." He chuckled. The joke fell flat. Ariadne wasn't in a joking mood.

"I'll be right there. Thanks Tony." She sighed. She hung up her phone. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked.

"She's drunk" She rolled her eyes. "I'll let you know if it's safe to see her."

Arthur smiled. She read his mind. "Thanks."

"Night Love." Eames gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Goodnight Eames." She hugged him.

* * *

"Well what do you have to say for yourself?" Ariadne had her arms crossed while she fussed at Lena.

"I drank too much. Sue me." She shrugged. Tony snickered.

"Tony you aren't helping." Ariadne glared at him.

"I'm sorry. Need any help getting her home?" He tried not to laugh.

"I think I can handle her. I'll call Arthur if I need any help. Thanks Tony." She smiled.

"You're welcome. Next time you come in your drinks are on me." He grinned.

"Thanks. Come on Lena." Ariadne grabbed her arm and pulled her to the door.

"Are we going to my place or yours?" Lena asked as Ariadne dragged her out of the bar.

"Are Ty and Jenny staying at your place?"

"I don't think so." Lena stumbled. Ariadne caught her. "Thanks. After this morning Jenny said something about staying in a hotel."

"What about Sebastian?" Ariadne asked.

Lena puked in the alley.

Ariadne chuckled. "I'll take that as an 'I don't give a…'"

"I don't feel good." Lena moaned.

"Let's get you home." Ariadne sighed as they got in her car. "Just try not to puke in your car."

"I'll do my best. Just drive fast." She moaned. "How did you get my car?"

"You had left it at the warehouse yesterday." Ariadne looked at her. Lena really was drunk.

"I did? I don't remember doing that." She fumbled around in her bag for a minute before pulling out her shot glass.

"What are you doing? The last thing you need is more alcohol." Ariadne fussed.

"It's my totem." She set the glass down on the dashboard. "Nope, not dreaming."

"How do you know?" Ariadne asked carefully.

"It fills on its own." Lena replied as she dropped the glass back in her bag.

"That sounds like something Eames would come up with." Ariadne laughed.

"He said the same thing in the dream." She paused. "I'm really sorry Ariadne. I didn't know a projection of Ty would show up and shoot him."

"That's not your fault. Besides, Eames is alright." She smiled.

* * *

"Are you feeling better?" Ariadne asked Lena through the bathroom door.

"Yeah." Lena opened the door looking a little more sober.

"The shower helped didn't it?" Ariadne smirked. She knew she was right.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing me home." Lena smiled.

"Anytime." Ariadne hugged her. "Call me sooner next time?"

"I will. I shouldn't have drunk so much." She frowned and sat down on her sofa. "Don't say it Ari."

"Say what?" Ariadne tried to look innocent.

"That the drinking didn't work. I couldn't forget about Sebastian." She rolled her eyes. "I just can't figure out why he came to see me."

"You'll have to ask him." Ariadne shrugged.

"Now you're on his side?" Lena fussed.

"No, but you know the only way to know why he is here is to ask him." Ariadne tried not to adopt the 'I told you so' attitude.

"I know." Lena sighed.

"You should tell Arthur." Ariadne said quietly.

"I know." She picked up her phone. "Hey Arthur." She chewed her lip.

"Hey Lena." She could hear him rustling papers on his desk.

"Um, do you think you could stop by if you have time?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I'm on my way." He smiled.

"I mean, if you're busy you don't have to come right away." She didn't want it to look like she was desperate to see him.

"It's alright. Eames already thinks I'm a workaholic so I can slack off and he'll never believe it. I'll be there in a bit. Alright?" The rustling had stopped.

"Alright. Thanks Arthur." She smiled.

* * *

"Hey Arthur." Ariadne smiled.

"Hey. I thought I was going to be here before now. Cobb was asking me something about our next mark and…" He was flustered. He had completely proved Eames' point. He hated it when Eames was right.

"It's alright. She's in bed. She was tired." Ariadne yawned.

"I'm sorry." He was mad at himself. He should have just left when Lena called him.

"It's alright Arthur. Do you mind staying with her? She's sobered up some. More than I was when I got drunk that night." She smiled. Arthur thought she looked tired.

"I don't mind." He smiled.

"Thanks. Let me know if you need anything." She hugged him.

"I will. See ya." He smiled.

"Bye." She shut the door behind her.

"Hey Ariadne?" Lena called.

"She just left." Arthur turned around and saw her standing in her bedroom doorway.

"Hey Arthur." She smiled. She was wearing a tank top and sweatpants. Her hair was still damp and hung limply at her shoulders.

"Hi Lena." He gave her a smile. "I'm sorry I'm so late."

"It's fine Arthur. I'm sorry about earlier." She hugged him.

"It's alright." He kissed her forehead.

"I panicked." She ran her hands through her hair. She sat down on her sofa and crossed her legs. "I'm so sorry Arthur. I didn't really think Sebastian would be there."

He sat down beside her. "What happened to your hand?" He took her hand in his.

She blushed. She had forgotten about it. The alcohol had numbed the pain. "I punched the wall while I was riding the metro."

Arthur stifled a chuckle. "It didn't help did it?"

"No. It hurt really badly." She frowned. The alcohol was wearing off and the pain was increasing.

He kissed her forehead.

"Thanks." She blushed. "I should have told you. I mean, that's why I asked you to go. I hadn't seen him since we split and I didn't think I'd panic when I saw him." She was flustered. Arthur knew the feeling.

"Lena." He said softly. "It's alright. I promise."

She just nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder. She wanted to say more, but she was feeling more of the hangover. "I… I think I'm going to try to go to sleep." She tried to stand up, but felt dizzy.

"Careful." Arthur jumped up to steady her. "Don't move too fast. I don't want to have to explain to Ariadne that you split your head open because I wasn't watching you." He smirked.

"I'll try." She giggled and threw her arms around his neck. "I'm glad you're here to watch me." She pressed her lips to his.

He smirked against her lips. "Me too." He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to her bed.

"Arthur will you stay with me tonight?"

"That was my plan. I told Ariadne I would watch you."

"I meant…" Her voice trailed off, and she closed her eyes for a moment. "…Will you sleep in here with me?" She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"On one condition." He pursed his lips.

"What's that?" She didn't know what he wanted. Maybe…

"Tell me about Sebastian." He said firmly. Not what she thought he would want.

"You want to know about my ex? Why?" Stupid question. She knew why.

"Whatever he did to you was enough to make you get drunk. When is the last time you were drunk?" He was concerned.

"The last time I saw him." She mumbled.

"So tell me. I'll listen." He sat down beside her.

"You'll hate me." She whispered.

"You don't know that." He kissed her softly. "I care about you Lena."

"I do too." She sighed. She rolled over on her back and stared at the ceiling as if it would give her assistance of some kind. It didn't.

Arthur rolled over and propped himself up on his elbow, kicking off his shoes, and loosening his tie. He wondered if she was going to tell him.

"Because of Sebastian I moved to Paris with Ariadne. He and I dated in college and we moved in together after we graduated. People tell me I'm emotionally distant."

"I haven't noticed that. I make it a point to notice those types of things."

"I know you do." She smiled. "In all fairness, you haven't known me that long. Ask Ariadne about it. She'll tell you I wasn't always like this."

"Is that why you freaked when I kissed you good morning yesterday?" Arthur was concerned. He didn't like seeing her upset. He wanted to know what was wrong so he could fix it.

"That was yesterday? It seems so long ago." She dodged his question.

"You didn't answer my question." He pressed.

"It's part of the reason. I don't sleep around. I don't date." Not that she could call her and Arthur a couple, or that they were dating.

"Because of Sebastian." He said quietly.

"Right." She whispered.

"So what happened?" He kept digging. She tried to not get mad at him. He was cute when he looked concerned.

"Arthur, I can't." She bit her lip.

"Why not?" Eames had told him that the breakup had been nasty.

"I told him I loved him." She blurted before she realized it.

"That's what happened?" He asked with surprise.

"He went nuts. He was screaming and swearing. I had never se… seen him so angry. It's like I flipped a switch or something. Ariadne thinks he hit me."

"Did he?" Arthur was suddenly on the defensive. His voice went up an octave.

"No. If he did we wouldn't be having this conversation because Ty would have killed him." She shook her head.

"Good." Arthur smiled and stroked her cheek.

"I guess I never realized how emotionally abusive he was. Ariadne never liked him." She said almost to herself.

"I'm sorry." Arthur whispered. He didn't know why he was apologizing. It just seemed like the right thing to say.

"Arthur. I'm sorry." She curled up next to him. "I know Eames gives you hell about not getting laid."

"He gives me hell about everything. Don't worry about it." He kissed her forehead.

"It's just that…" She scrunched her nose.

Arthur chuckled.

"What's so funny?" She looked confused, and slightly irritated.

"You're cute when you scrunch your nose like that." He smiled.

She blushed.

"I couldn't help it." He grinned. "What were you going to say? It's just that what?"

She sighed. "It's just that I don't want you to hate me for it!" Her eyes filled with tears.

He sat up. "First of all Lena, I couldn't ever hate you." He hugged her. "Secondly, Eames has given me hell since the day I met him. Do you know what the first thing he ever said to me was?"

She shook her head.

"Cobb introduced us. I hold out my hand to shake his, but he just rubs the back of his neck and says: "Bloody hell Arthur! Where were you the day God handed out imagination and creativity?" He rolled his eyes.

Lena laughed.

"Then he took his hand and messed up my hair. Most people say 'hello' or 'how do you do?' Not Eames!" He made a face.

Lena laughed harder.

"So he will be giving me hell for the rest of my life." He grinned. "It's something I had to accept a long time ago." He chuckled.

"I would say that I can't believe he said that to you, but I actually can believe it." She laughed.

"Believe it. Ask Cobb he was there. He laughed. I was so angry at both of them." He shook his head.

"Thank you Arthur." She kissed his cheek. "For making me laugh."

"You're welcome." He pulled her close and kissed her.

"Goodnight." She whispered.

"Goodnight." He kissed her forehead and watched her fall asleep in his arms.

* * *

"_Somewhere we went wrong. We were once so strong. Our love is like a song. You can't forget it…"_

_

* * *

_

Well? What did you think? Let me know... If this causes any confusion at all please let me know!

_Hopefully this next chapter won't give me as many fits as this one did..._


	14. Chapter 13 Affection and Confidants

_First of all I must say thanks for the favorites, alerts, and reviews. Especially the reviews because they give me ideas. And a special thanks to Voldemort's Spawn for her reviews. :) And if you haven't read her stories, you should. :) She writes humor the way I wish I could. *Recites made up commandment: "Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's writing ability.* Go ahead and laugh. You know you wanna!_

_Again, I own nothing..._

* * *

**Affection and Confidants**

Lena felt Arthur's arm around her when she woke up. She smiled even though she had a pounding headache. Normally she would have gotten up and taken some aspirin or something. She wasn't like Ariadne who could lounge in bed all morning, but this morning she was perfectly content to stay in bed as long as she could with Arthur's arm around her. She yawned. "Arthur!" She rolled over when he poked her side. He tried to look like he was sleeping, but he had a mischievous smirk on his face. "Arthur!" She poked him back. He started giggling. Arthur. Giggling. She started giggling too.

"What's so funny?" He asked while trying to get his giggles under control.

"You are." She giggled.

He kissed her. "Well, I'm glad I didn't scare you this time." He pulled her closer.

"I am too. Last time you about gave me a heart attack." She snuggled into him.

"I'll try not to do that again." He kissed her nose.

She blushed. Arthur was forever showering her with affection. She wasn't used to it, but she liked it. She had to watch her emotions and keep her guard up. She was afraid to tell Arthur she loved him. Even though she thought he loved her too. She thought she heard him mumble it in his sleep, but she reminded herself she could have misheard and he could have been mumbling about anything.

"How are you feeling?" He sat up and stretched without taking his eyes off her.

"I have a killer headache." She rubbed her head as if that would help.

"Go take something for it Silly." He teased.

"I didn't want to wake you." She _did_ feel silly for not taking something.

"That's sweet of you, but actually I've been awake for an hour watching you sleep." He grinned sheepishly.

"Oh." She blushed.

"I guess I just like watching you sleep in my arms." He shrugged.

"Arthur." She whispered. That was a new one for her. It made her feel giddy inside.

"It sounded a lot better in my head." He rolled his eyes.

"It sounded fine…" She began, but he interrupted.

"It actually sounds stalker-ish." He frowned.

"Arthur." She took his hand in hers. "Maybe I like sleeping in your arms… Maybe… Maybe I like that you like watching me sleep in your arms." She smiled.

Arthur smirked. "Maybe I like you."

She grinned, and chewed on her bottom lip. "Maybe I like you too." Those words were a huge step for her. They both knew it.

* * *

"Eames quit complaining." Ariadne fussed at him.

"Why are we coming over here?" He was bored, and could think of activities more fun than checking up on Arthur and Lena.

"To check on Lena. She isn't answering her phone. Neither is Arthur." She stepped off the elevator at Lena's floor.

Eames was going to have some fun after all. "Maybe they're shagging." He smirked.

"I doubt it." Ariadne rolled her eyes.

"But what does it matter as long as we think they are." He teased her.

"_You_ think they are. _I_, however, think they are not." She dug in her bag for the spare key Lena gave her.

"Of course, it is Arthur we're talking about." Eames pondered.

"And Lena." Ariadne mumbled still looking for the key.

"She doesn't look like she would have a problem getting…" He stopped when Ariadne looked up at him. He was going to say laid, but quickly realized it was something he shouldn't say.

"What were you going to say?" She had that fire in her eyes. He had to choose his words carefully.

"Oh nothing Love. Nothing at all." He kissed her forehead.

"For your information, she doesn't have _that_ problem. Her problem is Sebastian." She finally pulled the key out of her bag and opened the door. "Well, no Arthur." She looked at the couch as they walked inside.

"Told you." Eames smirked.

She playfully smacked his arm. "Wait here." She hissed. She walked into Lena's bedroom. She chuckled when she saw Lena AND Arthur in bed together. "Good morning." She grinned trying not to laugh.

Lena bolted up. "Oh gosh what time is it? Oh my head." She fell back on her pillow.

"Almost 10." Ariadne walked in the bathroom to get some aspirin. "Here, take these."

"Thanks." She swallowed the pills. "Arthur." She nudged him. "Wake up."

Arthur mumbled incoherently and swatted at her.

"Allow me Love." Eames said as he walked in.

"I told you to wait out there." Ariadne pointed to the living room.

"And miss this? You just don't want me to have any fun Darling." He pouted and kissed Ariadne's head. She rolled her eyes. "Good morning Darling." He placed a sloppy kiss on Arthur's cheek.

"Ugh! Eames!" Arthur sat up and furiously wiped his face. Lena started giggling.

"I love you too." Eames grinned as he tousled Arthur's hair. It was his goal in life to ruffle the point man's feathers every chance he got. Ariadne would probably make him pay for this one. She'd decide to stop talking to him, or kissing him, or something ridiculous like that. Something that she'd never stick to because he would pout and she would melt.

Arthur's eyes narrowed as he glared at Eames. "You know what they say about payback."

"Yes, I do actually. She's just like Karma." Eames smirked.

"Eames, go sit." Ariadne pointed to the living room.

"Well at least they're both dressed. Now anyways." He shrugged.

Arthur picked up a shoe and threw it at him.

"Ow. Arthur darling that isn't nice." He pretended to be cross.

"Eames go. Now!" Ariadne pushed him.

"You never let me have any fun." He pouted.

"This is the last fun you'll have for a while." She glared at him.

"We'll see how long that lasts." He dared her.

"I think I've proven that I can stay mad at you. You know there really was a job offer in Vancouver?" She crossed her arms. He looked a little scared as he let Ariadne push him out.

Lena was trying to get her giggles under control. "Arthur, I'm sorry." She sputtered. "It really was funny."

"Like I said before, welcome to life with Eames." He rolled his eyes. "Are you convinced that he'll give me hell for the rest of my life regardless?"

"Yes."

"Good." He kissed her. "I'll see you later alright?" He sat up, and put one shoe on.

"Alright. Thank you Arthur… for everything." She smiled.

"You're welcome Sweetheart." He smiled at her before walking across the room to get his other shoe.

"Arthur." She got out of bed, and walked over to him.

"Yes?" He turned around.

"You still have some slobber on your cheek." His eyes got big, and she wiped his cheek with her hand.

"Thank you." He was trying to stay calm.

"You'll live."

"I know." He walked out to the living room were Eames was pouting and Ariadne was glaring. "Ariadne, are you sure you want to be with Eames? I have a friend I could introduce you to him." He smirked.

Eames huffed.

"Oh really Arthur?" She sounded interested.

"Arthur if you do so help me…" Eames jumped up.

"Eames really? I went into limbo to bring you back. Do you really think I would want to be with anyone but you?" She kissed him.

"I told you that you wouldn't be able to stay mad at me." He smirked.

She smacked him. "Arthur who is your friend again?"

"Okay, okay!" Eames gave in.

Arthur laughed.

Lena rolled her eyes. "That wasn't nice Arthur." She whispered.

"I know, but he deserved it." He smirked, and kissed Lena's cheek.

"I didn't say he didn't deserve it. I'll see you later."

* * *

Lena and Ariadne met Arthur and Eames for lunch. Lena told Ariadne that Arthur had asked her to tell him about Sebastian. So she did. She didn't think should would be able to, but it really wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. "Ari, I actually felt better."

"That's great!" Ariadne was glad Lena was finally feeling better. It had taken a long time.

"Yeah. This morning he told me he liked me." She felt like a schoolgirl with a crush.

"Oh really?" Ariadne wondered how Lena responded.

"I told him I liked him too." She grinned.

"You did? That's great!" Ariadne hugged her.

"Yeah I know. This is huge for me that I was able to tell him that I liked him too."

* * *

"Where are they?" Eames complained to Arthur. Eames forever impatient.

"Probably confiding in each other." Arthur looked up at him from his newspaper.

"Why don't we confide in each other?" Eames pouted.

"Did you really just ask me that?" Arthur sighed. Eames still pouted. Arthur rolled his eyes and set the paper down. "You want me to confide in you?"

"Yes." Eames smiled.

"No." Arthur looked suspicious.

"Why not?" Eames was back to pouting.

"You first." Arthur smirked.

"Ari's mad at me." He sulked.

"Of course she's mad at you." Arthur tried not to laugh.

"It's not funny." He shot Arthur a look.

"I know, but really Eames? Maybe you should try not to anger her, or at least behave." He shrugged.

"You know me Darling. I can't behave. It's against my better judgment." He smirked.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "You don't have judgment, or a thought process."

"Arthur! That hurts!" He feigned pain. "I'm done confiding in you. Your turn."

"No thanks." Arthur was back to reading his paper.

"Pleeeaaase?" Eames drawled his word as long as he could.

"She told me about her ex last night." Arthur sighed and folded the paper.

"Lena?" Eames raised an eyebrow.

"No Ariadne." He rolled his eyes. "Of course Lena." He couldn't believe he was going along with Eames' little game.

"Hmm. Ari told me a little about him. Sounds like he needs a tune up if you ask me." Eames crossed his arms.

"I'll say he does. They were living together, and when she told him she loved him he went crazy." He shook his head. "She said he didn't hit her."

"Ari told me that too." Eames actually seemed to be taking this seriously.

"I was up half the night trying to figure out why he would give her up. Eames, she's incredible. Quite possibly the most incredible woman I've ever met." He was in love. He knew it. He looked at Eames, and knew that he knew it too.

"Well, like I said the prick needs a tune up." He paused for a moment, and smirked. "I think you're in love. Shall I tell her for you?"

"No!" Arthur yelled.

"No need to yell Darling. I'm not deaf. Yet." Eames rubbed his ear.

"Sorry." Arthur shrugged. "I don't want to scare her off. When I told her that I liked her this morning she told me she liked me too. I can live with that."

"Your secret is safe with me." Eames smirked. He reached to tousle Arthur's hair, but Arthur smacked his hand first.

"What are you boys up to?" Ariadne asked as she and Lena walked up to the table.

"Just making small talk Love, and waiting on you two lovely ladies to join us." He kissed her cheek.

"You flatter me." Ariadne rolled her eyes.

"You have no idea." Eames grinned suggestively.

"I swear! I can't take you anywhere." She threw her hands up.

"He doesn't behave." Arthur said simply. "Nor does he have judgment or a thought process."

"Shut up you." Eames glared at him.

"Aw, you boys are playing nice. That's so sweet." Ariadne kissed Eames' cheek.

"I love you." He batted his eyes.

She laughed. She couldn't stay mad at him if she wanted to, and he knew it. "I love you too."

Arthur looked at Lena and smiled. He held out his hand for her to hold. She took it, and smiled back. She wanted to tell him she loved him, but her heart reminded her constantly of the pain those words brought. He would have to tell her first.

* * *

_What did you think? Let me know please? Also if something is off grammatically or otherwise let me know that too. I've read over it, and it looks okay to me, but I am tired, and sick..._

_I've finished (I think) the next chapter. I jump ahead in the story almost a year. What I've done some might call 'mean'. Some people might hate me. What are your thoughts on this? Yes or no to jumping ahead? Yes or no to doing 'mean' things to my story? _


	15. Chapter 14 I Never Told You

_A special thanks to lovinlife83, Voldemort's Spawn, Troypayisbetter, and InceptionErection for their lovely reviews and ideas!_

_I don't own Inception, or "I never told you" by Colbie Caillat_

_P.S. I have read over this and tweaked this and hopefully fixed any and all 'oopsies' and/or discrepancies. _

* * *

"_I miss those blue eyes. How you kissed me at night. I miss the way we sleep. Like there's no sunrise. Like the taste of your smile. I miss the way we breathe. But I never told you what I should have said. No I never told you. I just held it in. And now I miss everything about you. I can't believe that I still want you. After all the things we've been through. I miss everything about you. Without you. I see your blue eyes every time I close mine. You make it hard to see. Where I belong to when I'm not around you. It's like I'm not with me. But I never told you what I should have said. No I never told you. I just held it in. And now I miss everything about you. I can't believe that I still want you. After all the things we've been through. I miss everything about you. Without you..."_

* * *

Lena would never forget the day Arthur told her he loved her. It had been almost a year since they met. She had begun to wonder if he ever would even though she never doubted his love. Maybe he was just giving her time. Maybe he was just trying to prove he loved her, and that he wouldn't leave her. She told him she loved him too. He picked her up and swung her around. He held her close and kissed her. He dropped her off at her apartment that night, and promised he would see her in the morning. Morning never came. About three am she got a phone call. It was Arthur. She was more than half asleep, but she tried to listen to what he was saying. _"Lena. I'm sorry. I'm so, so very sorry… Cobb and Eames have to go and they need me to go with them you see."_ He was trying to rationalize it. Trying to make it sound okay. No matter what he said it wasn't okay. Tears were streaming down her face. There was nothing she could say to make him stay. _"I love you Lena."_ He whispered before he hung up the phone. All she could think about was that she alone. Again. Arthur. _Her_ Arthur was gone. The man who told her he loved her. The man who called her _sweetheart_ and _gorgeous_. The man who almost called her _Love_ once and then about gagged 'cause he realized he sounded_ just_ like Eames. He was gone. She knew it wouldn't be forever, but six months sure as hell felt like forever. She got her sobs under control and looked at the clock. It was 3:15. 6:15 in Vancouver. Ariadne would be eating dinner.

* * *

Ariadne had been in Vancouver for almost two months. She and Lena tried to talk at least once a week. They emailed more than they talked. A nine hour time difference made phone conversations a challenge. Ariadne told herself she did everything she could to make her relationship with Eames work, but in the back of her mind she knew it wasn't true. The company in Vancouver kept begging her to move and work for them. Their final offer was double the initial offer. She told herself she'd be a fool not to take it. At the warehouse one day Eames accidentally called her by the name of an old girlfriend, or maybe it was on purpose to get her mad. He would make her mad knowing that she couldn't stay mad, and that afterward the sex would be incredible. She yelled at him. _"I'm finished Eames!"_ She picked up her books.

"_What do you mean 'finished'?"_ He fussed, and then realized how harsh his tone was._ "It was an accident Love. I swear."_

Not sure how to tell him she just blurted it out. _"I took the job in Vancouver."_ She looked up at him. He looked like she had just knocked the air out of him. He didn't say anything. _"I start next week."_ She mumbled not able to look up at him.

"_Ari… Please…" _He begged.

"_I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry."_ She grabbed her books and ran before she started crying in front of him. Before he had a chance to convince her to stay. She knew he was the only one who could change her mind.

* * *

Ariadne's phone rang. She looked at the caller id and was surprised to see Lena's name.

"Lena! It's three in the morning. What…" She was excited that Lena was calling, but worried because it was three in the morning in Paris.

"He's gone." Lena's voice was cracking.

"Who's gone? Arthur? What happened?" She suddenly wished she was back in Paris.

"Arthur. Cobb and Eames went to Mombassa for something. Some job or something I don't know. They needed Arthur to come with them. They'll be gone at least six months. It might as well be forever." She sobbed.

"Move to Vancouver. I can get you a job here, and you can live with me until he gets back." She offered.

"I think I'll do that. I'm ready to get out of here anyway. It hasn't been the same since you left. I miss you Ari. I know you don't want to hear it, but Eames misses you too." She hoped Ariadne would hear her out.

"I miss him too. He hasn't called me. I called him several times, but he never returned any of my calls. There are some days when I regret leaving him." That wasn't entirely true. She regretted it every day.

"They aren't going to be in Mombassa for long, and they are leaving their phones…" Lena began, but Ariadne interrupted.

"Where? Paris or Mombassa?" She smelled something burning, and remembered her soup.

"I don't know. I guess it doesn't really matter does it?" Lena said absently.

"I guess not." Ariadne said staring at her burnt soup. It was another take out night. "I burnt my soup."

"You need me there to cook for you don't you?" Lena grinned.

"Yes, and the ladies in your apartment building who cook for _you_." Ariadne laughed.

"So you _did_ know." Lena laughed. She was feeling a little better.

"One of them told me one day. She made me promise not to tell." Ariadne missed Lena. All of the sudden it hit her like a load of bricks. She wished she had never left. Tears filled her eyes. "Damn it Lena! Now you've got _me_ crying." She swore.

"Oh Ari! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I miss you too." She started crying again. "Why did we think this was a good idea?"

"Because I wanted to prove to Eames that I could stay mad at him. Now it's too late and the bastard won't answer my calls. This is all my fault. I risked everything to save him from limbo, and I thought I had to prove I could stay mad at him. Why didn't you talk me out of this?" She let out an exasperated sigh. She was mad at herself not Lena.

Lena sighed. "I couldn't talk you out of it. I knew you had to see for yourself. You're so stubborn you'd never realize it otherwise."

"You're right." Ariadne rolled her eyes.

"Of course I am." Lena chuckled. "And Ari, you really need to lighten up. You're too uptight, and you're a control freak."

"I know. I'm trying to work on that. I learned from the best you know." She laughed.

Lena groaned. Ty was the world's best control freak. Or worst if you prefer. Eames told her once that he thought that Ty was wound too tight and needed another tune up. Preferably courtesy of Eames himself.

"Speaking of the best… When is Ty's wedding again? I know you told me." She flipped through her calendar.

"Two months." Lena was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that her brother was actually going to get married.

"What made them want to get married in New York in August?" Ariadne found the date on the calendar and circled it in red.

"It's Ty." Lena chuckled.

"True." Ariadne knew there didn't have to be a reason.

"Jenny has been asking me to come help her with some things. I might move back home. Well, not home, but you know…" She couldn't move back in with her parents, but she could stand to be stateside again.

"Yeah. I understand." Ariadne knew she couldn't move in with her family again either. It wouldn't work for her or Lena.

"And then maybe after the wedding I'll move to Vancouver." Lena smiled. She liked the idea more and more.

"Perfect. I'll find you a job. It'll be great." She smiled. Getting everything ready would preoccupy her. She hoped to have less time to think about Eames.

"I'm going to get some sleep. Love you Ari." Lena yawned.

"Love you too Lena. Night." Ariadne smiled.

"Oh, Ari?" Lena hoped she hadn't hung up yet.

"Yeah?" Ariadne wondered what else she wanted to talk about.

"After dinner, he told me loved me. I told him I loved him too." She smiled. It was hard to imagine that had been just hours ago, and she was so happy. She laughed when she heard Ariadne squeal.

"Lena! That is wonderful! I am so happy for you!" She squealed again.

Lena laughed. "Thanks. Night."

"Night." Ariadne beamed. She was so happy for Lena. She thought about telling Lena her news, but she decided to wait and let it be a surprise.

* * *

_Please don't hate me. So I did make Ari act childish in this one. Wasn't meaning to, but it happened. Hopefully the next chapter will fix this._

_Please let me know what you thought, and if you have any other ideas._

_I'm not sure if the next chapter will focus on Arthur and Eames and their thoughts OR if I'll skip ahead and include what happens at the wedding. What do y'all think?_


	16. Chapter 15 Thoughts and Musings

_And after much trouble here is Chapter 15. Thank you so much for all of you who reviewed! :) Thanks also for the ideas! I'm sorry I can't remember who all gave them to me. Also, if you gave me an idea and I haven't used it yet please remind me! :)_

_P.S. I don't own Inception._

_Thanks for reading! :)_

* * *

Ariadne shouldn't have beaten herself up over Eames not calling her back. In the Forger's defense he wasn't mad. He didn't have his phone, and he didn't know she had called. He couldn't get her words out of his head. _"I'm finished Eames."_ And then she was gone. He shouldn't have teased her so much. Calling her by the wrong name really was an accident, but she would never buy that. It was like the prank he and Arthur pulled all over again. Only this time she really did leave. He stayed in Paris for a few weeks after and went to Mombasa for no particular reason. Cobb knew it was to get away from everything that reminded him of Ariadne. Eames told him he knew Ariadne needed time. He'd give her some, and then he'd go after her. Maybe if he waited a little while she would forgive him. Cobb didn't say it, but he hoped Eames wouldn't wait too long to go after her.

"When is Arthur supposed to be here?" Eames asked Cobb.

"He should be here soon. He said he would leave right away." Cobb looked at his watch, and sighed. Eames had asked about every hour or so when Arthur would be there.

"Did you tell him where we are?" Eames raised an eyebrow.

"I gave him an address." Cobb sat up. His patience was wearing thin.

"I'm too young to die!" Yusuf whined.

"Really?" Eames glared at him. "You aren't going to die! And you call _me_ dramatic!" He rolled his eyes.

"I have a weak constitution. I can't handle prison." He moaned.

"This isn't prison. It's just a jail for locals." Cobb tried to reassure him. He couldn't believe he was stuck in a cell with Eames and Yusuf. His patience was at an all time low. He was certain that Phillipa and James didn't bicker, argue, or complain as much as Eames and Yusuf. And eventually the children grew tired and went to sleep. Eames and Yusuf both talked in their sleep – Eames about not having alcohol and Ariadne, and Yusuf about not having his chemicals and drugs to help him sleep.

"Then would you mind telling me why the _three_ of you are behind bars?" Arthur stood at their cell with his arms crossed, and a glare directed at Eames. It _had _to be Eames' fault.

"Bloody Hell Arthur what took you so long?" Eames jumped up.

"I'm sorry Eames. The flight from Paris to Mombasa took a little longer than usual." Arthur's voice took a tone that sounded like Eames. "So why have you _all_ been incarcerated?"

"It's actually a funny story Darling…" Eames began.

"There's nothing funny about it." Cobb glared at him.

"I would expect to find Eames in jail, but you Cobb?" Arthur wanted an explanation, and a good one at that.

"Eames pissed off the wrong person." Yusuf said.

"What's new?" Arthur rolled his eyes. Eames huffed.

"What Yusuf meant to say is Eames _cheated_ the wrong person." Cobb smirked. It would have been funny if he wasn't in the cell also. "Yusuf and I happened to be in the same building at the time so they arrested all three of us."

"So why do you need me?" Arthur was exhausted. He had never been one to sleep well on an airplane. "I was under the impression that this was a crisis." His tone was getting sharper.

"It IS a crisis!" Yusuf exclaimed. "I'm not meant to be behind bars! I'm a free spirit! And I have to know that my chemicals are safe." He looked worried.

"We need you to bail us out." Cobb sighed. He knew Arthur would _never_ let them live this down.

"I thought you always had things under control." Arthur leaned against the wall.

"I do. I know how you hate to see out of control so…" He shrugged.

"I didn't bring any money." Arthur's eyes narrowed. "You could have given me a heads up."

"They didn't ask for money." Cobb paused for a moment. "They think Yusuf is a smuggler and a black market dealer, Eames a thief and a cheat, and they aren't sure what I am but they want to extradite me to the States."

"I fail to see where I come in." Arthur was bored. He was irritated that they got themselves into this position, and he had to leave Lena to get them out of it.

"We need you to get us out." Cobb said.

"Fine." Arthur mumbled. He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the cell.

"You had the key this whole time?" Yusuf asked.

"Yes, but only Cobb can leave." He smirked. "Oh, and Dom… I regret to inform you that your wife was involved in an automobile accident. She didn't make it. They are letting you go to take care of the arrangements and your children."

Cobb nodded.

"What about us?" Yusuf asked.

"What about you?" Arthur looked surprised.

"You can't leave us here." Yusuf protested.

"Miracles take time Yusuf. They don't want to let either of you go."

"What about Inception?" Eames asked casually.

Arthur pretended to think on that for a moment. "How about not?" He commented sarcastically.

Eames glared at him.

Arthur laughed. "Alright so maybe I convinced them that you aren't what they say you are. Eames, you do have to pay back the money."

"They took it!" He fussed.

"That's right! I almost forgot!" He smirked. "You have to pay back the money out of your own pocket."

"That's not fair." Eames pouted.

"Life's not fair Darling." Arthur drawled opening the cell door.

Eames glared at him, and walked out. Followed by Yusuf.

* * *

"I don't know what she saw in you." Arthur rolled his eyes and looked at Eames.

Eames sighed dramatically. "Well, I don't know what Lena saw in you." He smirked as Arthur threw a newspaper at him. He honestly didn't know what Ariadne saw in him, but that didn't matter. She had loved him. He hoped that she still did.

"Would you two stop? Now?" Cobb rubbed his forehead.

"So is there a job or not?" Arthur asked hesitantly.

"Oh there's a job." Eames smirked. He stood up and pulled a box off of a shelf. "Here ya go." He dropped it on the floor in front of Arthur.

"What's this?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"The research. Good luck." He laughed.

"And what do you plan on doing?" Arthur glared.

"What I do best Darling." He winked and sat back down at his desk.

"So nothing then?" Cobb smirked.

Eames opened his mouth, but decided not to say anything.

Arthur laughed.

"So when are you going to call her?" Cobb asked propping his feet up.

"When we get back to Paris." Eames said.

"Why wait?" Arthur asked looking up from one of the folders.

"I left my phone in Paris. I think." He mumbled.

"She'll love that. What if she's tried to call you?" Cobb asked.

"I try not to think about it." Eames frowned.

Cobb shot Arthur a look to back off.

He nodded. "Lena's brother is getting married the first weekend in August."

"Why are you telling me this?" Eames was annoyed.

"Ariadne will probably be there. I thought you would want to know." Arthur shrugged.

"Why would she go to Ty's wedding?" Cobb asked.

"She's good friends with his fiancée. And Sebastian is going to be there so she's going to look out for Lena." He was irritated that he had to fly to Mombasa to bail them out.

"You weren't invited were you?" Eames teased.

"Yes I was, but I had to fly here to bail you out of jail." Arthur glared.

"And help us with the job." Yusuf piped in.

"That too." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Well we have two months." Cobb commented. "Yusuf can stay with the chemicals and keep an eye on things."

"Of course. You people know nothing of chemicals." Yusuf muttered shaking his head.

"We appreciate you for that." Cobb chuckled.

"So what does this mean?" Arthur asked.

Eames grinned. "Arthur Darling, it means we are crashing a wedding."

* * *

Ariadne was sitting in a chair accepting gifts for the 'happy couple' when she saw a familiar face. She didn't even have to see his face to recognize him. The dark three piece suit and slicked back hair was all she needed. "Arthur!" She smiled.

He seemed surprised to see her sitting there. "Ariadne? It's good to see you!"

"Lena's over there." She motioned across the room to where Lena was sitting talking to one of the other bridesmaids. "Did you panic when you found out she wasn't in Paris anymore?" Ariadne had a slight smile. She knew he panicked.

"A little." He laughed nervously.

"It's good to see you Arthur." She stood up to hug him. It was then that he noticed.

"Ari! You're pregnant!" He blurted rather loudly.

"Yes Arthur. I'm pregnant." She said quietly. "Now, go get your woman." She grinned.

"Alright, but we're talking later." He kissed her head.

"Alright, now go!" She shooed him.

Arthur walked across the room. He tapped Lena on the shoulder. "Darling, would you care to dance?" The line he used in the dream.

She spun around in her chair. "Arthur!" She squealed and launched herself into his arms. She kissed him on the mouth. His lips tasted just like she remembered them.

"I missed you too." He whispered. His thumbs softly stroked her cheeks. "Can we talk?"

"Sure, but let's dance at the same time. If I sit down, or disappear someone will need me to do something." She pulled him to the dance floor. She looped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Let's talk." She whispered as they swayed to the music.

"I'm so sorry I left. I feel horrible about it. I promised you I'd see you in the morning, and then I had to leave." He sighed.

The rush of emotions that she had felt when he left came back. "It felt horrible when you left."

"It was horrible for me too. I told you I loved you, and then I left." She could tell he was beating himself up over it.

"But at least you told me before you left." She kissed him. "That made it a lot easier." She looked over Arthur's shoulder and saw Ariadne wave at her. "Did you see Ari?"

"She pointed you out to me." He smiled.

"So you saw?" She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I did. She told me she'd talk to me about it later." He pulled her closer.

"I didn't know until two weeks ago when she flew to Paris to help me pack. The girl tells me nothing." She chuckled.

"Really? Actually I'm relieved that she's pregnant." He admitted.

"Why is that?" Lena looked up at him.

"When I went to your apartment your land lady said you moved back to the states because you were pregnant. I was trying to put all the pieces together, and it didn't quite add up." He looked worried.

"No, no! I'm not pregnant Arthur. She gets things mixed up. I'm sorry she worried you." She kissed his cheek.

"I wouldn't have minded that you were pregnant except that we never really… And I was gone for two months which would mean if it was obvious like she said it was that would have meant there was something you hadn't told me about…" He was rambling. He was so cute when he was worried and rambling.

"Oh Arthur. You obsessed over that the whole flight didn't you?" Concern washed over her face.

"Not the whole flight." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry. I never meant for you to think I cheated on you. I didn't think you would be back so soon. I'm glad you're here – don't get me wrong. And if you had come back in six months it might have been that I had a baby. I think that would have been worse." She let out a giggle. Arthur was so spastic sometimes. If her land lady had said 'baby' instead of 'pregnant' he wouldn't have made it through the flight.

Arthur laughed nervously. "That wouldn't have been good."

"I know." She kissed him. "So how are Cobb and Eames?"

"They're fine. Cobb went home for Phillipa's birthday. James' birthday is next week, and he's having a party for both of them. We're all invited if you don't have anything planned."

"I don't think I do. I've never met his kids." She wondered what they looked like.

"They're good kids. They look a lot like him, but James' face looks more like Mal's." He smiled. Ariadne had told her about Mal. She felt sorry for Dom and the kids. She couldn't imagine what that was like.

"How is Eames?" She almost expected him to come popping out from behind a corner.

"He's himself." He rolled his eyes.

"_Where_ is Eames?" The way Arthur was fidgeting she knew Eames was somewhere close by.

"He's outside." Arthur gave in.

"Why?" Lena pressed.

"He didn't want to be alone, and I told him I was coming to see you, and he insisted he tag along." He rolled his eyes.

"You know I'm going to ask you why else so just tell me." She pouted.

"When I told him I was coming here he hoped that Ariadne would be here…" He began.

"She is." Lena interrupted.

"I know she is. He also wants to have a 'chat' with Sebastian." He wasn't sure how she'd react to that.

"Why does he want to do that?" She asked with surprise.

"Not a literal chat Lena." Arthur sighed.

"I know that." She rolled her eyes. "Why does he even want to waste his time?" She wasn't born yesterday.

"Oh." Arthur blushed. "Well, I don't know. Call him stubborn." He shrugged.

"He is stubborn." She looked around for Sebastian. "There he is." She pointed to Sebastian. "He's been civil lately. I think he just wants to convince me to sleep with him." She said casually. Arthur tensed up. "I'm not going to Arthur."

"It still makes me angry." He fumed.

"Let me say hello to Eames. Odds are if we go outside eventually Sebastian will follow to see where I'm going." She grinned.

"I love you." Arthur whispered in her ear.

"I love you too." She kissed him. "Let's go." She wrapped her fingers around his.

"Where's Ariadne?" He looked around.

"Probably the restroom. She's been so sick. I thought it would have been over by now." She cast a glance over her shoulder. Sebastian had his back to her. He hadn't noticed.

They walked outside. "Eames!" Lena let go of Arthur's hand to hug Eames.

"Well hello there Love." Eames hugged her and gave her a peck on the cheek. "And bloody hell Arthur! What took you so long?"

"We were talking." Lena said. "And yes, Ari's inside." She smiled.

"You couldn't have come told me that Arthur?" Eames looked at him.

Arthur grinned and shrugged. "You could have come inside."

Eames rolled his eyes.

"What did you expect Eames? The poor boy's lovesick." Cobb grinned. Arthur blushed.

"Dom!" Lena hugged him.

"Hi Lena." He smiled.

"Lena." It was Sebastian. "Ty's looking for you."

"Alright. You remember Arthur don't you? And I don't think you ever met Eames, but he's the one who broke Tyler's nose the night he was a jerk to Ari." Lena's heart was pounding, but she appeared calm. "This is Cobb who was also there the night Ty's nose was broken."

"Hello." Sebastian said.

Arthur took the first swing. Lena gasped when Arthur's fist collided with Sebastian's nose. She heard the same cracking noise she heard when Eames broke Tyler's nose.

"Lena, darling, please excuse us." Eames smiled.

"You two behave, and play nice." Cobb said as he guided Lena back inside. She didn't need to stick around to see what they were going to do.

* * *

"Where were you?" Ty asked.

"With Arthur. He came to surprise me." She grinned. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing, I just didn't know where you were. Where's Sebastian?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Getting his nose adjusted." She said calmly.

Ty rolled his eyes. "I know how that feels. He does deserve it, and then some. Even though he's my friend, he hurt you Lena. I should have taken care of it before you left for Paris. I'm sorry. It wasn't that I didn't believe you. I just didn't realize it was quite _that_ bad until Jenny told me last year. I never would have let him come with us. I would have pounded him at the airport if I had known. I'm so sorry." He hugged her.

"Ty, it's okay. I'm okay. I promise." She smiled.

"I'm glad you have Arthur." He kissed her forehead.

"I am too. Hey Jenny!" Lena hugged Jenny.

"Hey Sis! Thank you for everything!" She grinned.

"You're welcome. I've had so much fun." She was exhausted, but had fun.

"And maybe I can return the favor one of these days." Jenny winked.

"You never know." Lena blushed.

* * *

"Feel better?" Lena asked Arthur when he and Eames walked inside.

"Much better." He kissed her cheek.

"Don't expect him to ever talk to you again." Eames said.

"Where's Cobb?" She looked around.

"Helping Sebastian clean up." Eames smirked.

"Eames?" He was the last person Ariadne expected to see.

"Ari!" He grinned.

"It's so good to see you!" She threw her arms around him and started crying.

"I'm sorry Love." He whispered. He wrapped his arms around her. It was then that he noticed. He looked puzzled.

"I'm pregnant." She whispered trying to stop crying.

"Is that why you left?" He looked sad.

"No. I left because I was stupid and immature. I was too uptight and took everything too seriously. You on the other hand take NOTHING seriously. I was sure if I left I could stay mad at you…" She was on the verge of tears again.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He stroked her cheek.

"Because I knew you could make me stay." Tears spilled over. "I'm so sorry. I should have known that I couldn't stay mad at you." Through her tears she thought she saw him smirk as he pulled her out to the hallway. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. She could smell his cologne, and she wished he'd just kiss her. She sighed. "Andrew. I love you. I'm sorry Darling. Please forgive me." She pleaded.

He sighed. "I'm glad to know you're pregnant."

"What?" That was not what she wanted him to say.

"Well, I didn't want to say anything in case you had decided to gain forty pounds in the past four months." He smirked.

She laughed. "I.." She started to say something, but just laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Darling, you must know by now that I'll never grow up." He still had that silly smirk on his face. That smirk that made her go weak at the knees.

"I know, and I don't care. I love you anyways." She placed her hand on his cheek.

"I love you Ari. I would do anything in the world for you, and I hope you know that." He looked serious.

She nodded.

"I shouldn't have teased you so much. It was like the prank all over again. I lost you all over again. Swear you won't leave me like that again. Hell, I'll even swear to never pester Arthur again."

"I'll never leave you again. I swear." She smiled and blinked away lingering tears.

"Do I have to swear to never pester Arthur?" He asked hesitantly.

She giggled. "No." She whispered as she caught his pouting lip between her lips, and kissed him. Her stomach flipped. She had missed him so much. "It just wouldn't be the same if you didn't mess with Arthur all the time!" She giggled. "But don't tell him I said that."

"Thank you. I really would have tried my best to not mess with Arthur if you told me I couldn't." He kissed her.

"I know you would have." She giggled as he kissed her neck.

"I love you so much Ari!" He murmured.

"I…" Crud. The sickness was back. _"Not now."_ She thought to herself. "_Yes, now. Crud."_ "I have to go." She squirmed out of his arms and rushed down the hall leaving him stunned.

"Ari? What's wrong?" He ran after her. He debated not following her into the women's restroom, but he decided he would. He heard her in the last stall puking her guts out. ___"So she's sick, and hopefully not pissed at me."_

"Andrew?" She walked out of the stall her face was as white as a ghost.

"I'm here." He smiled.

She gave him a weak smile, and washed her face. "I'm so sorry. I thought it was over. I've already been in here once tonight." She pulled a toothbrush out of her bag and brushed her teeth.

"You know I've never been in a woman's restroom before." He sat down on the couch.

"That's surprising." She grinned.

"Now I know why you women always go to the bathroom in pairs." He smirked.

She laughed as she sat down beside him. He pulled her onto his lap.

"So how far along are you?" He rubbed her arm.

"Almost six months." She snuggled into him.

"Did you know when you left?" He asked quietly.

"No, and I think if I had known I would have stayed." She smiled at him.

"I wish you would have." He kissed her head.

"I wish I would have too." She wrapped her arms around him, and closed her eyes.

He kissed her forehead and held her as she fell asleep.

* * *

_This was longer than I planned, but I couldn't think of a good place to split it up._

_Let me know what you thought. Please? :)_


	17. Chapter 16 The Luckiest

_This chapter is short and sweet. Or I think it's sweet anyway. :) Thanks for the reviews and the PMs. :) Y'all are the best! :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or the song "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds_

* * *

_The Luckiest by Ben Folds_

"_I don't get many things right the first time. In fact I am told that a lot. Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls brought me here. And where was I before the day, that I first saw your lovely face? Now I see it every day. And I know that I am, I am, I am the luckiest. _

_What if I'd been born fifty years before you? In a house on a street where you lived? Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike. Would I know? And in a wide sea of eyes I see one pair that I recognize. And I know that I am, I am, I am the luckiest. _

_I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you. Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties, and one day passed away in his sleep. And his wife she stayed for a couple of days, and passed away. I'm sorry. I know that's a strange way to tell you, that I know we belong. That I know that I am, I am, I am the luckiest."_

* * *

"Arthur." Lena nudged him. Nothing. She nudged him again. "Arthur!"

"Uhhhh." He moaned. "Wha?" He pulled his head out of his pillow and turned to face her. "Yes?" He smiled trying not to sound irritated. He didn't like being woken up out of a deep sleep, but he could get used to waking up beside her. He wasn't sure what time it was, but the room was dark except for a sliver of moonlight that came in through the curtains. She was smiling at him. Her hair was pooled around her face, and she looked absolutely beautiful.

"I love you." She snuggled up against him. The fear and pain she had over those three little words was completely gone.

He wrapped his arm around her, and smiled. "I love you too."

"Does Eames know that you came back to my room with me?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know. I doubt he cares because he's preoccupied with making up with Ariadne." He yawned. "Why?"

"Just wondered." She shrugged. He knew there was more to it than that.

"Well, if you're wondering," He shifted so he could look at her without straining his neck, "he thinks we've been _'shagging' _since we walked into the warehouse together that morning." He smirked. "Regardless of what I say he'll never believe that tonight was the first time we actually did." He kissed her. "Why are you awake?" He knew he should have asked her that to begin with.

"Can't sleep." She said quietly. "I've had so much going on lately, and I haven't been sleeping a lot. Now the wedding is behind me, and I'm still hyped up." She giggled as he tickled her sides. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

"That's alright." He smiled. "And don't worry; I'm not going anywhere. Unless I have to bail Eames, Cobb, and Yusuf out of jail again." He chuckled.

She giggled. "That was hysterical. I'm glad you did though."

"Yeah, well with all the Hell Eames gives me I finally have some ground to give it back." He smirked.

"I haven't seen Ari so happy in a long time. I'm glad he came with you." She chuckled thinking about walking into the restroom to look for her and seeing her asleep in Eames' lap. Eames had fallen asleep too. They looked so cute.

"I'm glad he came too. Only because he made up with Ariadne and quit moping about it." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh Arthur. You're such a good friend." Lena giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Very funny. But seriously, I'm glad he's happy, and that Ari's happy too."

"I'm glad it was only two months and not six." She murmured.

"I am too." He kissed her neck. He hated leaving her, and he was more than thrilled to be with her again. "And if I ever have to leave again I'll just take you with me." He murmured between kisses.

"Mmmm." She hummed as he kissed her neck. "I'd like that."

* * *

Ariadne lay in bed with her back to Eames. It was the closest she could get to him because of her growing belly. Eames had buried his face in her hair and laid his arm across her belly as if to make sure she wasn't going anywhere. He was sound asleep, but she was wide awake. She was thinking of how stupid she was for leaving him. How she cried when she found out she was pregnant, and alone. – Mainly that she was alone. She had tried to call him and tell him, but that's when he left his phone in Paris.

"_I'm sorry Love. I should have taken my phone with me, but I forgot it. And I honestly didn't think you would call me."_ He apologized and kissed her. _"Don't beat yourself up Love. It was both our faults. Mine more than yours, and it's all water under the bridge now."_

She knew that he loved her no matter what and that she loved him even though he would probably never grow up. She knew they would always be together, and they were going to have a baby. She smiled when she felt the baby kick.

Eames sighed. "She's kicking." He murmured.

"How do you know the baby's a girl?" She yawned. She hadn't found out. She wanted to be surprised.

"I don't, but if it's a boy we are doomed. So you should pray the baby's a girl." He chuckled while nuzzling her neck.

"What would I do with two of you?" She giggled.

"I know. Hence my point Love." He smirked. "I love you Ari." He whispered; his breath tickling her ear.

"I love you too Andrew." She murmured before falling asleep. Then it was Eames' turn to lay awake. He was quite certain that he was the luckiest man in the world.

* * *

"Are you awake?" Arthur whispered. Lena hadn't said anything for a while and he wondered if she had finally fallen asleep.

"Mmhmm." Lena murmured. "You make too much noise. You sigh just about every other minute or so."

"Sorry." He felt his cheeks burn. He didn't realize he had been sighing out loud.

She rolled over to face him. "Can't sleep either?" She asked.

"Not since you woke me up." The words were more biting than he meant for them to be.

"I'm sorry Arthur." She rolled back over.

"It's alright Lena." He kissed her ear. "I get to lie in bed with you in my arms. I don't care if I'm sleeping or not." He rolled her over so he could kiss her lips. "I love you." He sighed.

"I love you too." She smiled.

"I have something for you." He grinned and sat up.

"Now?" She looked up at the alarm clock. "It's 4 am." She yawned.

"Well, we're both awake." He shrugged.

"True." She flipped the switch that turned on the lamp. "That's bright!" She winced.

"Yeah it is." Arthur shut his eyes as he fumbled around on the floor for something.

"What are you doing?" She asked. He leaned over a little too far and fell out of the bed. She giggled. "Arthur, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Found it." He sat up and crawled back in bed. "I was going to give it to you before I knew I was going to Mombasa." He smiled. "But now will do." He handed her a little box.

"Arthur?" She asked hesitant to open the box, but she did anyway. She gasped. Inside the box was a diamond ring.

"Lena, will you marry me?" His lips twitched in anticipation. His eyes sparkled like the diamond.

"YES!" She squealed. She threw her arms around him and kissed him. She giggled and put the ring on her finger.

He pulled her on top of him while she flipped the switch turning the light off.

"I love you." She whispered as she lightly bit down on his ear lobe.

He let out a moan. "I love you too."

Twice in one night? Eames would _never_ believe that. Not that either of them planned on telling him.

* * *

"Oh for crying out loud." Ariadne moaned.

"What?" Eames asked groggily.

"The baby won't quit kicking. I've never been up this much." She sat up in bed, and sighed.

"I'm sorry Ari." He sat up beside her.

"Maybe she knows her daddy is here." She said softly.

Eames grinned. "Maybe she does." He kissed her belly. "Darling, do Daddy a favor and stop kicking so your Mummy can sleep."

Ariadne giggled. "I love you." She placed her hands on his face and kissed him.

"I love you too Darling." He hugged her. "Ari, I am the luckiest man in the world."

"And I'm the luckiest woman in the world." She smiled.

* * *

_First of all let me say how much I love the song "The Luckiest". My cousin had it played in the prelude at her wedding. It was so sweet!_

_Anyways... Let me know what you thought. Also, I need some more ideas about what should happen next. What do y'all think?_


	18. Chapter 17 On issues past and present

_Thanks for the reviews! :) Y'all are the best as always. :)_

_I still own nothing..._

* * *

"Lena Darling?" Eames looked at her with a smirk.

"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"Something is different about you." He mused.

"I haven't changed anything Eames." She eyed him cautiously.

"Ah!" He held his finger up in the air as if he had a 'Eureka!' moment. "I know!" He was smirking.

"Do enlighten me." She rolled her eyes; afraid to ask, but knew he would tell her anyway.

Arthur looked at her and shook his head.

"Oh Arthur you take the fun out of everything Love." Eames pouted, but didn't miss a beat. "Lena you seem less emotionally distant this morning."

"Eames!" Her face turned red.

Eames chuckled.

"Arthur! I can't believe…" She started to fuss at him, but he covered her mouth with his hand.

"I said nothing. He knew. How? I don't know, but he knew." He shrugged while his cheeks turned pink. She knew Eames had already given Arthur enough grief about it when he saw Arthur walk out of her room that morning.

"Really Eames? You said you weren't going to pester them about it." Ariadne said softly.

"Oh Ari, you know I can't help it." He stuck his bottom lip out and pouted.

She rolled her eyes. "I know." She giggled. "I have to fuss at you though. Someone has to defend Arthur and Lena."

"Yes, but I _had_ to say something." He pleaded.

"I think you said quite enough to Arthur this morning." She smirked.

He batted his eyes and grinned.

"You're lucky I love you so much." She laughed.

"Just think, now we'll have to knock before we open a closed door." He smirked.

Ariadne shook her head. If Lena and Arthur's faces could have turned redder they would have. "Have you gotten all of your ribbing in for today?"

"Today? Oh no Love! I'm good for this morning though." He laughed.

Lena leaned over and whispered in Arthur's ear. "I'm sorry."

He smiled and whispered back. "It's alright Gorgeous. You're worth it." He kissed her cheek.

She blushed.

"Tsk, tsk. No sharing secrets." Eames acted put out.

"Eames hush." Ariadne said. She looked sick.

"Are you alright?" He asked concerned.

"I'll be fine." She stood up. "Lena, will you come with me?"

"Sure." Lena got up and followed her.

* * *

"What did you say?" Lena asked as Ariadne threw up.

"That's why Yusuf was freaking over his chemicals while they were in jail." Ariadne sat down on the floor and leaned her head against the wall. "He's doing research for me."

"I'm sorry, I don't follow." Lena frowned.

"I was so sick in Vancouver. That's what tipped me off that I might be pregnant. Don't tell Eames, but I called Yusuf. He seemed concerned and told me he'd research it. That's why he went to Mombasa. That's where his sources are." She leaned over the toilet and heaved again. "Oh I hate this." She moaned. "I wondered if there could be any correlation between my 'morning' sickness and dream sharing."

"Oh gosh. I never would have thought of that. What did he think about it?" She hoped it didn't play a part.

"He said it was plausible, and he would look into it."

"I can't believe you told Yusuf before me." Lena teased.

"He said if it was something with all the chemicals and dream sharing I would most likely lose the baby. That's why I didn't tell you." She started crying.

"Oh Ari. I'm so sorry." Lena sat down and hugged her. "So not only were you dealing with being away from Eames; you also had all of this."

"Yeah, and I should have told you. I'm sorry. He thought if I reached six months I might be okay, but I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone until I knew." She sobbed.

Lena felt sick herself. "When will you know?"

"Next weekend. He said he'd know by then and he'll bring the 'results' to the party for Dom's kids." She sighed. "I'll have to tell Eames then."

"Have you been to the doctor?" Lena wondered. Surely Ariadne had been.

"Yes, and they say the baby's healthy." She shrugged. "I can't tell them what I think might be wrong. Extraction? Chemicals that induce sleep? That would go over _so_ well." She said sarcastically. "The baby is already a hit with my parents." She snickered.

"What do you mean? They seem fine." Lena hadn't noticed any tension.

"I come home for Ty's wedding. I haven't seen my parents in about four years. Do you know what they say to me?" She looked at Lena with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sure I could guess." She rolled her eyes.

"Not 'hello'. Not 'we missed you.' Hell Lena, even an 'it's good to see you Ariadne' would have been nice. Do I get that? No. I get 'Dear God. You're pregnant.' And they wondered why I moved to Paris to go to school." She clenched her fists.

"I'm sorry. Calm down. Don't get yourself worked up over it." Lena cautioned.

"I know. I want them in my life. That's part of the reason I came home. They apparently don't want me in their life. Not like this anyway. I wasn't trying to get pregnant, but it happened. And damn it Lena, I'm happy I'm pregnant." She grinned. "I'm happy that Eames is the father. I am not going to let my parents ruin this for me. I want to have this baby, and if I didn't I wouldn't." She smiled. "It's that simple."

"It is that simple. I'm glad that you're happy. I'm here for you as evidenced by the fact I'm sitting on the floor in a public restroom." Lena giggled. Ariadne did too.

"Thanks Lena. You're the best." She hugged her.

"Anytime Ari." She grinned. "I have news."

"Oh? What? Tell me!" She was hoping for some particular news.

"Arthur asked me to marry him, and I said yes." She was beaming.

That's what Ariadne was hoping for. "Eeek!" She squealed. "Lena that's great! Oh my gosh! I'm so excited!" She hugged her, and squealed again.

"Thanks." Lena grinned. "Ari, I'm so happy."

"I'm so happy for you." She giggled. "This is so great. Did Arthur tell Eames?"

"I don't know. Probably not, because if he did Eames would have said something about it." She rolled her eyes.

"Did he give you a ring?"

"Yeah." She pulled the ring out of her pocket. "See?" She put it back on her finger. "My hands swell in the morning."

"Just wait until you get pregnant. Everything swells. The diamond is gorgeous." She smiled.

"Thanks. He said he got it before he left for Mombasa, and was going to give it to me, but then he had to leave." She felt giddy inside.

"He told me he wanted to ask you, but wanted to wait for the right time." She remembered when he told her. He said he would have to get his nerves under control before he could ask.

"So he waited until four in the morning when we are both laying in bed awake." She giggled. "That is so like Arthur. I love him so much."

"He loves you too. I am glad you two found each other. Just think if they hadn't played that prank on me you two might not have gotten together." _"That stupid prank." _She rolled her eyes.

"It all worked out." Lena sighed.

"It did, and I wouldn't have changed a thing." Ariadne grinned.

"Me neither." Lena chuckled.

"Excuse me?" A waitress asked. "Um, there are two guys outside that wanted me to come in and ask if you two are okay."

Ariadne and Lena looked at each other and started laughing. They were sitting on the floor in a restroom stall.

"Sorry." Ariadne said as she stood up. "I still have morning sickness, or whatever you want to call it."

"Oh I don't mind. They asked me to check on you a few minutes ago, but I've been really busy. Sorry."

"Not a problem. We just got to talking. Those two are like children. They can't do anything without us." Lena laughed.

"No they can't." Ariadne chuckled.

* * *

"Uncle Arthur!" Phillipa and James squealed when they opened the door.

"Phillipa! James!" He smiled and scooped both of them up.

"Alright you two. Let Uncle Arthur get in the door." Cobb smiled.

"Okay Daddy." Phillipa and James squirmed out of Arthur's arms. He chuckled.

"Thanks for coming Arthur. Where are the others?" He looked out the door as Arthur stepped in.

"Ari is sick again. Lena is helping her, and Eames is trying to be supportive." He rolled his eyes.

"Still sick?" Yusuf walked out of the kitchen.

"Yeah." Arthur nodded.

"I thought it would have passed by now." Yusuf furrowed his brow.

"Maybe that's over with." Eames said as he walked in.

"Is she still throwing up?" Yusuf asked.

"No. Just nauseated." Eames eyed him warily. Why was he so curious?

"That's good at least." Yusuf said.

"Sorry Dom." Ariadne smiled weakly.

"That's alright. Are you feeling better?" He hugged her.

"A little." She held her stomach as if that would make it calm down.

"Ari!" Phillipa and James squealed.

"Hey guys!" She hugged them.

"Ari what happened to you? You got fat." James proclaimed.

Ariadne stifled a laugh.

"No silly." Phillipa fussed at him. "She's pregnant. She's gonna have a baby."

"Oh." James said quietly.

"That's right." Ariadne smiled.

"Oh. Ariadne? You might want to drink this." Yusuf handed her a bag. "You have to brew it, but it should help with the sickness."

"Herbal tea Yusuf?" She raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"It's safe. It can't hurt anything. I've spent months researching this."

"Speaking of research…" Ariadne began.

"Ah yes. I must admit when you first called me I was stumped." Yusuf pulled a stack of notes out of a briefcase.

"When did you call him?" Eames asked. He couldn't help but feel he had been left out of the loop.

"When she was in Vancouver. That's when I went back to Mombasa." Yusuf didn't realize what he said.

"You told him first?" Eames crossed his arms more irritated at Yusuf than Ariadne.

"The two of you weren't even on speaking terms at the time." Yusuf snipped. Eames' eyes got huge and he had a sudden urge to throttle the Chemist. Yusuf instantly realized that he shouldn't have said anything.

Ariadne stepped in. "I didn't know if the chemicals and the dream sharing were making me sick. It was about that same time that I found out I was pregnant. I didn't tell you because I didn't know if I would lose the baby." She sobbed.

Eames felt like a complete ass for making her cry.

"Ariadne." Yusuf said calmly. "Yes, the drugs can make you sick. But you haven't come in contact with them since you've been pregnant. You just have morning sickness that may last all nine months."

"Oh great." She said sarcastically.

"Hi guys. What did I miss?" Lena walked in. "Ari are you okay?" She asked.

"I will be. Eames. Outside. Now." She walked out and he followed her.

"We don't know you." Phillipa said. James shook his head.

"This is Lena." Arthur smiled. "She's my fiancée."

Phillipa and James giggled.

"Lena, this is Phillipa and James. Dom's kids."

"It's nice to meet you." She smiled.

"So can we call you Aunt Lena?" James asked sweetly.

"Um, I guess so." Lena was confused.

"They call me Uncle Arthur." He shrugged.

"Oh. Okay." She felt silly.

"Uncle Eames said that Uncle Arthur would _never_ get married." Phillipa said.

Lena giggled.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know Phillipa. Lena does too."

"Just making sure." Phillipa giggled. In that moment Lena realized that Phillipa looked just like Dom. James did too, but not as much. She wondered what their mother had looked like.

* * *

"Ari, I'm sorry." Eames stood beside her on the porch.

She didn't say anything.

"I know you were mad at me, but it hurt to find out that you told Yusuf first. Now I understand why. I'm so sorry Ari." He put his arm around her waist and rested his hand on her belly. He felt the baby kick.

"The baby only does that when you're around." She smirked, and leaned her head against him.

"I can't help it if everyone loves me." He smirked and kissed her head.

"Oh gosh." She groaned. "You are so full of yourself." She chuckled. "And I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled.

"Will you do me a favor Andrew?" She asked sweetly.

"Anything Darling." He smiled.

She turned around to face him. "If I ever threaten to leave again will you just kiss me until I change my mind?"

"You're not thinking of leaving again are you?" He was genuinely concerned.

"Oh no. I just… I don't want to leave you again. I don't want to talk myself into leaving to prove I can stay mad at you. I want you to stop me. Why didn't you?" She seemed agitated.

He sighed. "I knew you were mad, but I also knew you needed time. I told Dom that I would give you some time, and then I'd come after you. But we got arrested and then we crashed Ty's wedding. So I guess I did come after you after all, but I should have come after you sooner." He kissed her forehead. "But I should have stopped you from leaving in the first place."

"But you did come after me. Thank you." She wrapped her arms around him.

"Anytime Love." He smiled.

* * *

"Hey." Arthur smiled at Lena when she walked in the kitchen. "Where have you been?"

"With Phillipa and James." She kissed his cheek.

"What have they been up to?" Dom asked her. "I never know with those two." He shook his head.

"Showing me pictures and telling me about their mother." She looked at him and smiled not sure of how he would react. He smiled. "She was beautiful Dom. The children look a lot like both of you."

"Thank you Lena." He smiled. "They haven't asked you too many embarrassing questions have they?" He smirked.

"No. Not too many. They did most of the talking and showed me pictures. They said I could keep this one if I wanted." She gestured to the folded picture in her hand. "It's my favorite." She kissed Arthur's cheek.

"Oh gosh. What picture of me did they show you?" He moaned.

"This one." She unfolded the picture and held it up. It was a picture of Arthur and a dark haired woman kissing.

Arthur groaned. "Dom, you said you destroyed these."

"I thought I did. Must have missed one." He shrugged. "The children are very good at hiding things."

"So what's her name?" Lena asked. Arthur looked at her and realized she had never taken her eyes off of him.

"Annie." He muttered.

"Oh. Is that the Annie that's in your phone?" She raised an eyebrow.

"You still have her number in your phone?" Dom asked incredulously.

"_Still_ Arthur?" She crossed her arms.

"I'm going to check on Phillipa and James. I'll be back." Dom excused himself.

"Thank you Dom." Lena smiled. She turned back to Arthur. "Well?" She was ready to let Arthur have it, but decided to wait until she heard his explanation.

"Lena." He sighed. There was no _good_ way to explain one's ex. He looked into Lena's eyes. They looked _sad_. Maybe even a little _betrayed_. "I should have told you. I just never really thought about it." He shrugged.

"Why is her number still in your phone?" She pressed the issue.

"I never got around to taking it out." That was a lame excuse. "How do you know it's in my phone?" His tone was accusatory.

"It's the first name listed. You were in Cobb's office. You stuck your head out and asked if I would look up a number for you because you left your phone on your desk." She frowned.

"Oh. I forgot about that." He mumbled. "But you still have Sebastian's number in your phone." If he had been thinking clearly he would have known that was a poor argument, but he wasn't thinking clearly.

"Yes Arthur. I still have Sebastian's number in my phone." She threw her hands up. "But he's not listed as Sebastian." She pulled out her phone and scrolled down. "See? He is known as 'do not respond.'" She shoved the phone in his face. "For a long time I didn't hear from him. Then I saw him in Paris. He would send me messages once in a blue moon, but I never replied. I don't understand why this has to be about me. I guarantee you there are no pictures floating around of me and Sebastian."

"That's good. I thought this one was gone too." He sighed. "I know you're mad at me. I'm sorry."

"I know you are Arthur." Her smile was weak.

"Will you forgive me?" He asked quietly.

"I'll think about it." She smirked.

"You'll think about it?" He asked with surprise.

"Yes, while I'm sleeping alone tonight." She patted his cheek.

"Is it safe to come back in?" Dom asked.

"Oh yes. Arthur just found out he's sleeping alone tonight." She smiled.

Eames walked in just in time to hear that. "Ooooooooo. What did you do?" He smirked and pointed at Arthur.

"Eames knock it off. I'm not in the mood." Arthur growled.

"He didn't tell her about Annie." Dom said. "Phillipa and James had hidden a picture of Annie and Arthur."

"Oooo! Lemme see!" Eames was like a kid in a candy store.

"No!" Arthur snapped, and slapped Eames' hand.

"Enough you two!" Ariadne shouted. She looked at them and sighed. "Dom, thanks for dinner. I'm going to head back to the hotel."

"Do you want me to drive you?" Eames asked.

"No, I'll drive. You and Arthur can stay with Dom." She smiled.

"But…" Eames began.

"No buts. Goodnight. Be good. Don't harass Arthur to death." She couldn't help but smile. She felt like she was talking to a child. "Night Dom." She hugged him. "I told the kids goodnight. I can't believe how much they've grown."

"I'm glad you got to see them. They've been so excited about seeing all of you." He hugged her. "I hope you start feeling better."

"Hey Daddy we're ready for bed." Phillipa said as she and James walked into the kitchen.

"Okay. I was saying goodbye to Ari."

"I'll go with you Ari." Lena said. "Thanks Dom." She hugged him.

"Aunt Lena will you come visit us again?" Phillipa asked.

"Sure." Lena hugged her and James.

"Promise?" James asked.

"I promise." Lena smiled.

"But Annie promised she'd come see us again too, but she never did." James' lower lip quivered.

"I promise I'll come see you again James." She kissed his cheek.

"Okay." He grinned and hugged her.

"Same goes for you too Phillipa." Lena hugged her.

"Thanks Aunt Lena. Night."

"Night Dom. Night Eames. Night Yusuf." She said purposefully not saying Arthur's name.

Ari rolled her eyes. "Night everyone. Let's go Lena."

After they were in the car Ari looked at Lena. "Don't make the mistake I did by deciding that I needed to stay mad at Eames."

"I won't." Lena said.

* * *

_Well, what did you think? This was longer than I intended. I was going to leave it short-er-ish, but it just wouldn't stop._

_Let me know what you thought, and if you have any comments or suggestions let me know that too. :) Thanks!_


	19. Chapter 18 Just Desserts

_Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy. :) Oh, and thanks for the reviews! :)_

_P.S. And just because I don't own Inception doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to..._

* * *

"Okay. I'll see you in the morning. I love you too. Night." Ariadne was on the phone with Eames. Lena rolled her eyes.

"They're going to stay at Cobb's." Ariadne said absently as she crawled in her bed. She looked over at Lena who was sprawled across the other bed.

"Okay." Was Lena's short response.

"Don't be too hard on him. I doubt he's thought about her much since they split." Ariadne stared at the ceiling.

"You knew?" Lena sat up and looked at her.

"Yeah. He's better off with you. She wasn't right for him." Ari yawned.

"So what happened?" Lena yawned too.

"She went all 'I can't be with you anymore.' She didn't know about extraction, and she was always mad at him because he was so busy. When he wasn't at the warehouse he was with her. But it wasn't enough. When they split I felt so sorry for him. I actually thought about introducing the two of you." She smiled.

"I remember you said something about introducing me to a friend of yours once. That was Arthur?" It seemed like forever ago.

"Yes, but it worked out after all." Ari smirked. Arthur had told her thanks, but no thanks. At least not right then.

"It did." Lena whispered and looked at the ring on her finger. She picked up her phone and sent Arthur a message. _"I forgive you. I'm sorry for being mad at you. I love you."_ About a minute later he sent a response. _"I'm sorry, and I love you too."_ Lena giggled.

"What are you doing? Making up with Arthur?" Ariadne asked suspiciously.

"Yeah." Lena grinned. "Are you okay without Eames?"

"The baby doesn't kick when he's not around. I love him to pieces, but when he's around me I can't sleep because the baby kicks." She sighed dramatically.

"Oh Ari." Lena giggled. "Did you tell him your parents want to meet him?"

"Not yet. That's a tomorrow conversation." She sighed.

"When do they want to meet him?" Lena asked getting sleepy.

"They're coming to Vancouver next week." Ari yawned.

"What? Your parents? That's intriguing." Lena mused.

"Yes it is. Very intriguing. Night." Ari rolled over on her side.

"Night." Lena rolled over on her stomach.

* * *

"Arthur at the very least just take the damn number out of your phone." Eames winced as Yusuf put an icepack on his eye.

"I did." Arthur sighed. He felt better after Lena messaged him. "I don't even think about Annie anymore. I just never took her number out. I should have." He was still irritated over the situation. He had to promise Phillipa and James over and over again that he wasn't mad at them for giving Lena the picture. They told him they heard parts of the argument. He felt horrible. He promised them it wasn't their fault. Finally they seemed to believe him, and scampered off to bed. He felt even better after he slugged Eames. Eames had kept making snide comments and eventually Arthur had heard enough. He decided to wait until Ariadne and Lena left and the children were in bed. _"Damn it Arthur! I didn't know you could hit like that."_ Eames moaned. "_Serves you right for being such an ass."_ Dom chuckled.

"Is it bruising?" Eames whined, and removed the ice pack.

"Yes." Dom chuckled. "No one will take sympathy on you. Not even Ariadne."

Eames glared at Arthur. He didn't say anything. He knew that Ari would be mad at him, and that she would tell him it served him right for tormenting _poor_ Arthur and not listening to her.

* * *

Lena woke up to someone knocking on the hotel room door. She groaned and looked at the clock. 8 am. She rolled over and got up.

"If it's Eames." Ariadne moaned. "Tell him not to say a word until I wake up. 'You know who' has been quiet all night."

"Got it." Lena yawned as she walked to the door. She threw the door open. Arthur grabbed her and kissed her.

"Good morning to you too." She smirked, and kissed him again.

"Now can I get in my room?" Eames griped.

"Good mor…" She saw the bruise. "Oh Eames. What happened?"

"Ask your boyfriend." He sneered, and walked in the room.

"Will do. Oh and don't talk to Ari. She's still sleeping."

"Got it." He waved his hand as he walked in and collapsed on the other bed.

Lena rolled her eyes, and shut the door behind her. Arthur held his arm out for her. She took it and kissed his cheek.

"Well? What happened to Eames?" She asked as they walked to their room.

"He kept making snide comments about Annie and other things. I finally had enough, and punched him." He smirked. "It felt so good to shut him up."

Lena slid the key into the lock and opened the door. "Good for you Arthur." She kissed him and pulled him inside the room.

"Lena." He murmured between kisses. "I'm sorry about Annie and I love you."

"I love you too." She wrapped her arms around him tighter.

"I don't think punching him will do any good, but it made me feel better. He grinned. "He'll still give me a hard time about everything."

"But as long as he thinks we are shagging we might as well." She smirked.

"We might as well." He pulled her down on the bed and kissed her.

* * *

"Good morning." Eames crawled in bed with Ariadne, and nuzzled her neck.

"Morning." She murmured. "What time is it?"

"Almost 10." He leaned over and kissed her.

She opened her eyes. "What happened to you?" She rolled over on her back.

"Arthur slugged me for being a meddling twit." He rolled his eyes.

"Serves you right Darling." She giggled.

"I know." He pouted. "Do you still love me?"

"I'll always love you Andrew." She kissed him.

"I love you too." He grinned, and kissed her belly. As if on cue the baby kicked. Ariadne rolled her eyes. "Did the baby kick at all last night?"

"Nope." She stretched her arms.

"So does that mean you don't want me to sleep next to you so you can sleep at night?"

"Nope." She kissed him. "Even though I slept well last night I missed having you beside me."

"I missed you too." He scrunched his nose. "I had to listen to Arthur snore all night."

"Serves you right." She giggled. "I want ice cream."

"Ice cream? Isn't it too early for ice cream?" He propped himself up on his elbow.

"I don't know. Maybe?" She stuck her bottom lip out.

"How about I go get you some?" He kissed her.

"That would be nice. Butter Pecan and Strawberry." She grinned. "Put in a cup so you don't have to worry about it dripping everywhere."

"Will do Love." He kissed her cheek and rolled out of bed. "I'll be back." He threw his clothes on.

"Thank you." She smiled pulling the covers up to her neck and snuggling down in the pillows.

* * *

_It turned into Fluff. Yay! Can you say aww? :D_

_Let me know what you thought. Kthxbai. :)_


	20. Chapter 19 Hello's and Goodbye's

_Here is chapter 19. Whee! I'm not sure if I'm completely satisfied, but I decided to go ahead and post it before I psycoanalyze it to death. :) _

_Hope it reads okay, and it's not 'Rocky and Bullwinkle'-ish *dies*_

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inception...Or Rocky and Bullwinkle. Nor do I own that terminology that describes a lack of character detail. That belongs to Voldemort's Spawn. :)_

* * *

"Ari. You have to tell him." Lena looked at Ariadne who was slurping the rest of her milkshake.

"I will." She slurped.

"I swear. I have never seen anyone crave as much ice cream as you!" She laughed.

"I know. It's crazy." Ariadne giggled.

"So when are you going to tell him?" Lena flipped the subject back to Eames.

"I don't know Lena." She frowned.

"Are you going to wait until your parents show up and say "Surprise Eames! Meet my parents." Really?" Lena crossed her arms.

"Hey, you think that'd work?" Her eyes got real big and she grinned.

"No. Don't even think about it." Lena stood up.

"But you gave me the idea." Ariadne protested.

"It's a bad idea. Forget I said anything about it. You need to tell him." Lena felt like a broken record.

"I will." She said as they walked outside.

"Feel better Love?" Eames asked Ariadne.

"Yes thank you." She grinned. "Now let's go before I want more ice cream." She sat down in the car.

"Dom called and I told him you had a sudden craving for more ice cream." Arthur chuckled.

"Thank you Arthur." Ariadne rolled her eyes. They had stopped by to see Dom and the kids again. Lena wanted to reinforce the fact that she would visit again. _"Will you come again sometime?_ Phillipa and James both asked her. _"Yes. I will. I promise."_ She hugged them.

* * *

That night Eames sat down on the bed beside Ariadne. "What's bothering you?" He asked. She had been quieter than normal after Arthur and Lena left.

"My parents want to meet you." She said softly.

"And that's bad?" He asked.

"No." She chuckled. "It's not that it's bad. My parents and I don't always see eye to eye."

"Oh-kay." He raised an eyebrow.

"I saw them at Ty's wedding. Do you know the last time I saw them?" She had tears in her eyes.

"No." He shrugged.

"When Lena and I left to go to Paris four years ago! I can count on one hand the number of times they've called me since I left." She shook her head and continued, "I want them in my life, but they don't want to be there. Their first words to my face in four years were 'Dear God. You're pregnant.' I laughed and said 'It's good to see you too.'"

"Yikes." Eames cringed.

"I know." She said quietly.

"So I take it they're not tickled pink that you're pregnant." He rubbed her arm.

"No. They are not. According to them, this," she pointed at her belly, "is a no-no." She rolled her eyes.

He chuckled.

"I'm sure they think I got pregnant out of wedlock just to spite them. And..." She began.

"Did you?" Eames interrupted her.

"No, and if I did I would have been pregnant a long time ago." She smirked.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious. I didn't get pregnant on purpose. It just happened, and I'm glad it did." She kissed him.

"I am too. And I do know of one way we can remedy part of this." He had a mischievous grin on his face.

"Oh? What's that?" She was suspicious, but curious nonetheless.

"We could get married before the baby's born." He smirked.

"Yes we could." She thought he was joking.

"So what do you say Darling? Will you marry me?" He dropped to one knee and pulled a ring out of his pocket.

"Of course I will." She giggled and kissed him.

"Excellent. Arthur told me I was mad to think I could convince you to marry me." He rolled his eyes.

"Well, tell Arthur that the bruise he gave you helped your cause." She smirked.

"I think you should tell him that." He grinned like a cat.

"I am not starting a war between you and Arthur. And that's that." She crossed her arms. "Lena and I both know that you and Arthur really fight about who loves the other more." She said seriously.

The look on Eames' face was priceless. "Ari please!" He rolled his eyes. "You know better than to think that I would love you more than Arthur."

"That's not what Arthur said, and apparently that's the real reason for him slugging you." She was trying so hard to keep from laughing.

Eames just huffed. "Well think what you want."

"Oh I will." She grinned.

"But just so you know..." He pursed his lips. "You're the only one for me. Female or otherwise." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "You are so annoying when you can't take a joke." She finally started laughing.

"You are so mean to tease me like that. Arthur treats me poorly because I am horrible to him. But you? I never would have expected it from you Ari." He placed the back of his hand on his forehead and sighed dramatically.

She rolled her eyes. "Hopeless. You are hopeless." She shook her head. "And I am hopelessly in love with you." She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

* * *

"I didn't know you could cook." Arthur walked up behind Lena and kissed her neck.

"Yeah." She blushed. "The ladies from my apartment building in Paris taught me a thing or two."

"Well, dinner was great. Thanks." He grinned.

"Anytime Arthur." She sat down on the bed. "So what's next for you?" She asked as he flopped on the bed beside her. They had talked about her and Ari working together, but he said nothing of his plans. She hoped he would stick around for a little while.

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. Which is a really weird feeling for me." He crossed his eyes and made a face. She giggled. She never would have thought Arthur would be this laid back with her. "I do know that I love you, and that I want to be with you." He smiled.

"I love you too Arthur." She laid her head on his chest and fell asleep.

* * *

"Lena!" Ariadne squealed into the phone.

"What, what?"

"He asked me to marry him!" She could barely contain her excitement.

"Really? Oh my gosh! Ari that's great!" She grinned. "Arthur!" She called to him.

"What?" He asked. Ariadne could hear him through the phone.

"Eames asked Ari to marry him!" Lena said putting the phone on speaker.

Ari heard Arthur laugh. "It's about time! Congrats Ari!"

"Thanks Arthur." She grinned.

* * *

"Ari do I have to wear a tie?" Eames fidgeted as Ariadne adjusted his tie.

"You don't know how tempting it is to just strangle you." She teased.

"You know you love me." He kissed her.

"Yes, I love you. Let's just hope my parents love you. Please behave." She sighed.

"Darling, you know I _always_ behave." He batted his eyes.

"Oh don't even start that with me." She rolled her eyes.

"Ari." He took her face in his hands. "Dinner will be fine. Don't you worry." He kissed her head.

"Thank you." She hugged him. "I'm glad your bruise has faded."

"I am too. I don't look good bruised." He chuckled.

She rolled her eyes. "Let's go."

"How are you feeling?" He asked knowing it was the question she hated the most.

"I'm fine." She replied knowing it was the response he hated the most.

"You're worried. Everything will be okay." He kissed her. "I promise."

"I am, and I know. Thank you though." She smiled.

* * *

Ariadne and Eames walked into the restaurant hand in hand.

"Hello Ari." Her mom smiled. She looked happy.

"Hi Mom. Hi Dad." She smiled.

"Hello Ariadne." Her dad hugged her.

"Mom. Dad. This is Andrew." She smiled.

"It's nice to meet you." Her dad shook his hand.

"Yes it is." Her mom agreed.

"Likewise." Eames smiled.

* * *

"Ari, you'll have to forgive us for how we reacted when we saw you at Tyler's wedding." Her mom said as they ate dinner.

"She doesn't _have_ to Dear." Her dad pointed out.

"Yes. I know. What I mean is, we would like for you to forgive us. We hadn't seen you in four years, and then you're six months pregnant. It was a shock." Her mom explained.

"Surprised me too Mom." Ariadne smirked.

"It had been so long and…" Her mom began.

"And whose fault is that mom?" Ariadne interrupted.

"It wasn't yours Ari. I'm sorry." Her mom squeezed her hand.

Ariadne blinked away tears, but she couldn't get rid of the lump in her throat.

"Your mother and I are both sorry, and we hope you can forgive us." Her dad smiled.

Ariadne nodded.

"I know you felt like you had to leave, and I'm sorry I made you feel that way…"

"It's okay Mom." Ari hugged her.

Eames phone buzzed.

"Sweetie." Ariadne sighed. "I thought you turned your phone off."

"I forgot. It's Arthur." He rolled his eyes. "I'll be back. Please excuse me." He grinned.

She rolled her eyes as he got up from the table.

He flipped open his phone. "Arthur darling I'm eating dinner can't this wait?" He turned around and winked at her.

"Did you meet Arthur at the wedding?" She asked her parents.

"I don't think so. Who is he?" Her mom looked confused.

"He's Lena's fiancé." Ariadne explained.

"She told me about him. He seems nice." Her mom smiled.

"He's a great guy. He's really good to her." Ariadne smiled.

"That's great. She needs someone like that. Especially after dealing with Sebastian." She paused and pursed her lips. "Andrew seems to be a good match for you." She smiled.

"He is." Ari bit her lip and blushed. She loved him so much. She showed her mom the diamond on her left hand.

"Now that is a diamond." She smiled.

"Yes it is." Her dad agreed.

"I'm really happy. Even though we didn't plan on a baby we're still happy, and we love each other." Ariadne was beaming.

"Then that's all that matters." Her mom hugged her.

"Sorry about that." Eames walked back in and sat down kissing Ariadne's cheek.

"How is Arthur?" She asked.

"Oh you know Arthur Darling. Always focused on work." He rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. "But he's fine." He added with a smirk.

"That's good. We had time to talk about you." She grinned.

"Oh dear, perhaps I should have called him back." He pretended to look concerned.

"That's alright. We told her you're a good match for her." Her mom smiled. She'd been doing a lot of that.

Ariadne thought Eames blushed. "Thank you ma'am." He smiled.

"Ari, your mother and I approve. Congratulations." He hugged her.

"Thanks Dad." She grinned.

* * *

"Hey Arthur." Ty said. Arthur was surprised to see him.

"Hey Ty. Hey Jenny." He smiled.

"Hi Arthur." She chirped.

"Is Lena here?" Ty asked hesitantly.

"Sure. Come in." Arthur held the door open for them. "Lena?" He called.

"Yeah?" She walked out of the kitchen. "Tyler! Oh my gosh! How are you?" She hugged him.

"I'm good. Can we talk?" He asked.

"You flew all the way to Vancouver to talk? You could have just picked up the phone." Lena chuckled.

"Well, Jen had a meeting in Seattle so we flew in and then decided to drive up." He followed Lena back into the kitchen.

"So what's wrong?" She dropped her smile.

"Why does something have to be wrong?" His face faltered.

"Because it's you. You never you ask to talk unless something is wrong. Just tell me. I can handle it."

* * *

"So what's wrong?" Arthur asked Jenny.

She didn't say anything for a minute and Arthur wondered if he should repeat himself. Right before he did she spoke. "Sebastian was killed in a car accident this afternoon." She squeezed her lips together in a fine line.

* * *

"Lena." Ty put his hands on her shoulders. "It's Sebastian."

"What happened?" Her voice quivered.

"Some drunk ran a red light, and hit him." He paused and bit his lip. "Lena, he's gone." His voice broke.

Tears filled her eyes. "Oh God." She sank into the wall and slid all the way down to the floor. Her legs felt like jelly. She couldn't stand anymore. The range of emotions she felt was too much to comprehend. Ty sat down on the floor next to her, and hugged her.

* * *

Arthur sat in the living room with his head in his hands. He heard Lena sobbing, and he hoped that this wouldn't break her. He hugged Jenny and walked into the kitchen. Without a word he sat down beside Lena and slipped his arm around her. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Ariadne asked Eames as they left the restaurant.

"To go see Arthur and Lena. I thought you would want to do that." He smiled.

"Sure, but why did you think I would want to?" She wasn't sure what he was up to.

"The reason Arthur called earlier." Eames gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"What's wrong?" She noticed his knuckles had turned white.

He grabbed her, and squeezed it. "Sebastian was killed in an accident earlier."

"Oh my gosh!" She felt tears fill her eyes. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"Because we were with your parents. Are things better with them now?" He asked changing the subject.

"Yes, and I believe you have successfully charmed them." She smirked.

"Well you know I can't help it if everybody loves me." He grinned.

"I know you can't." She rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek. Even when she was sad, he could still make her laugh.

* * *

_So... Yeah... Like I said. I hope it read okay. If not let me know and I'll fix it. Also, please let me know what you thought._

_Also I stayed up way too late to finish this and post it just because I love you guys. :)_

_Um, and I think I'll write one more chapter. Maybe two... And hopefully it will be written soon._

_Oh, and thank you for all of your wonderful reviews! You guys are the best! :)_


	21. Chapter 20 And baby makes three

_Thanks for the reviews. You guys are the greatest! :) This is the next to last chapter. And thanks to Voldemort's Spawn for her idea. :)_

_I still don't own Inception. Oh well._

__

_

* * *

_

"Eames! Wake up!" Ariadne said loudly.

"What?" He snipped without moving.

"I'm in labor." She glared at him.

"What does that have to do with me?" He rolled over.

"You have to drive me to the hospital." She hit him with a pillow.

"Ow! Geez woman!" He growled.

"Just get up." She doubled over in pain.

"Are you alright?" He asked a little more awake.

"Would you just shut up and drive me to the hospital?" She pulled her bag out of the closet, and threw it at him.

"Alright." He got up and threw his clothes on.

"Could you go any slower?" She asked sarcastically.

"You have time." He said.

She hit him with another pillow. "I have been up for two hours trying to keep track of my contractions and see if I was really in labor this time. My water broke twenty minutes ago."

The light seemed to turn on in Eames' head. "Oh. Then we should go." He picked up her bag and walked out of the room.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. You idiot." She stomped after him.

* * *

Eames drove her to the hospital, or tried to anyway. First of all he was a nervous wreck. Why? He didn't know. Cobb told him he would be. Arthur had laughed at him. Eames decided he'd give Arthur as much Hell as he possibly could whenever he and Lena decided to have kids. The thought of seeing Arthur so spastic made him chuckle.

"What the Hell is so damn funny?" Ariadne punched him.

"Ow!" That was the second reason he was having issues driving. – Ariadne had turned his bicep into her personal punching bag. She punched him every time she had a contraction. He pressed his foot down on the accelerator. He had to get her to the hospital as fast as he possibly could.

* * *

Lena and Arthur met them at the hospital. "I take my laughing back now." Arthur muttered still half asleep. Ariadne had called Lena who made Arthur ride with her to the hospital.

"You'd better." Eames fussed ready for an argument.

"Not now!" Ariadne shouted at him as a nurse wheeled her back. Eames rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Ari, just breath through it." Eames told her. She had made him go to her Lamaze classes.

"BREATHE? THAT'S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY! THIS HURTS! YOU TRY AND BREATHE THROUGH IT!" She screamed at him. He took a couple steps back. She grabbed the water pitcher off the nearby table and chunked it at him. The pitcher hit him in the head. Water went all over him and the floor.

"Damn it Ari!" He fussed.

She laughed.

Lena was giggling. "Eames, go sit with Arthur." She pushed him out of the room.

* * *

A few hours later Lena walked into the waiting room. Eames was pacing back and forth. Arthur had his arms crossed glaring at Eames. Eames had no doubt said something to cause it, and Arthur had probably started it. She smirked.

Eames looked up and saw her. "Well?"

"Go on in, and congrats." She smiled.

A smile broke across his face and he rushed to see Ariadne and the baby.

Lena sat across Arthur's lap. "I love you." She laid her head on his chest.

"I love you too." He stroked her hair.

"You are wonderful." She whispered.

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

She smiled. He had put up with her sobbing and crying over Sebastian without a complaint. He didn't even seem irritated about it, and she could usually tell when he was irritated about something.

* * *

"Ari!" Eames grinned.

She looked tired, but she smiled at him. She was holding the baby. _Their_ baby. "Come see." She said as he walked up.

"She's beautiful." He kissed Ariadne's head.

"Here." Ariadne handed him the baby. He'd never held a baby before.

"What if I drop her?" He asked half seriously.

"I will kill you." She smiled.

"Ha ha. Very funny." He looked down at the little baby in his arms. "What are we going to name her?" He smirked at Ariadne. They had been fussing over names. He liked _Evangeline_. She liked _Janie_.

"What about a compromise? How about Eva Jane?" She smiled.

"Perfect." He kissed his baby girl's forehead and handed her to the nurse.

* * *

"Now that you've had the baby and you're feeling better we can…" Eames grinned.

"Hell NO!" Ariadne interrupted. "I am NOT going through this again anytime soon."

"I didn't say you had to get pregnant. Personally I'd rather you not be sick for nine months again. And I wouldn't mind having sex once in a while. I never thought I'd see the day when _stick in the mud_ Arthur would get laid more often than me." He looked disturbed by that.

"So is the some kind of contest the two of you have? To see who gets laid more often?" She tried not to laugh.

He rolled his eyes. "No-ooooooo!"

Ariadne laughed. "You are hilarious!" She kept laughing.

* * *

"What time is it?" Eames asked. Eva Jane had started crying. Again.

"Almost five." Ariadne yawned. "She's sleeping later."

"I'll get her." He kissed Ariadne and rolled out of bed. "There, there Eva." He picked her up. "Let's let Mummy sleep now alright?" He smiled at her. She quit crying instantly, and cooed at him.

When Ariadne woke up a few hours later she realized Eames had never gotten back in bed. She got up and walked out to the living room. She smiled when she saw him asleep on the sofa with Eva Jane asleep on his chest. She tip toed back into the bedroom and crawled back in bed. If Eva Jane was going to sleep in so was she.

* * *

"It's so not fair." Ariadne rolled over.

"What do you mean Love?" Eames kissed her.

"She cries. You pick her up. She's silent. It doesn't matter what I do she still cries. She's her daddy's girl." She smirked.

"Yes she is." He chuckled.

"What am I going to do with you gone for a week?" She pouted.

"I'll have a chat with her before I leave. She'll behave." He smirked.

Ariadne giggled. "I love you." She kissed him.

"I love you too." He pulled her closer, and buried his face in her hair.

* * *

"Have you talked to Eames?" Lena asked.

"Yeah. He called me when he got to Mombasa. I figured I wouldn't hear from him. Have you heard from Arthur?" She asked. Eames had got to Mombasa to get something from Yusuf. Arthur was in Paris to do some more research on their latest mark.

"He called me from Paris. He said things were going well, but that they might need another week. Is Eva Jane sleeping without Eames?" She smirked.

"She's doing better. She's sleeping through the night which is wonderful." She smiled and kissed Eva Jane's forehead.

"She's such a good baby." Lena smiled.

"She is, and she has Eames wrapped around her finger. He didn't believe me when I told him it would happen." Ariadne chuckled.

"I'm sure my kids will have Arthur and I both wrapped." She smiled.

"It will happen." Ariadne said.

"It already has." Lena sighed.

"What do you mean?" Ariadne asked confused.

"I'm pregnant." She grinned.

"Oh my gosh! That is so great! Did you tell Arthur?" She was ecstatic.

"Not yet. I just found out today. I wondered if I was when we got married, but I wasn't sure." She beamed. "Now I know how you felt!" She giggled.

"This is so exciting!" Ariadne hugged her.

"It gets better." She grinned.

"How so?" Again with the confusion.

"The doctor heard two heartbeats. I'm having twins!" She squealed.

"Lena! That's great! Oh my gosh!" She hugged her again.

"I know. Arthur is going to freak." She bit her lip, and made a face.

"Yes, but he will freak in a way that only Arthur can." Ariadne giggled.

"He will. I just want him to be as happy as I am though. You know?" She shrugged.

"Honey, this is Arthur we are talking about. He'll be happy just because you are. And he will still love you. No matter what. And I think he'll be happy about having twins." Ariadne smiled.

"I think you're right."

* * *

A week turned into almost three.

"Hello Ari." Eames pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard on the mouth.

"I missed you." She deepened the kiss.

"I really missed you. I just had Arthur for company." He frowned. "How's Eva Jane?"

"She's good. She's been sleeping through the night, but I think that she's teething. So she's been fussy. She's sleeping now. And…" She was interrupted by another kiss.

"Which means you and I have some time to ourselves." He grinned and scooped her up in his arms.

"Yes we do." She kissed his neck.

* * *

"Arthur!" Lena squealed when he walked through the front door.

"Hey Gorgeous." He kissed her. "I missed you." He hugged her.

"I missed you too." She leaned her head on his shoulder. She figured now was as good a time as any. "Guess what?" She looked up at him.

"What?" He smiled.

"I'm pregnant." She grinned.

"You, you're what?" He had a confused look on his face.

"I'm pregnant Arthur." She repeated. Maybe now wasn't a good time.

"I. Um. I kinda feel lightheaded." He sat down on the couch.

"Arthur? Are you okay?" She sat down beside him.

"Um. I, I don't know. Did you say you were pregnant?" He looked confused.

"Uh, yeah." She cringed. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm so jet lagged. I wanted to sleep on the flight back, but nooooooo Eames had to talk to me the whole flight." He rolled his eyes. He pulled her on top of him. "So we're gonna have a baby?" He kissed her cheek.

"Yeah. I think we've established that." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm just trying to soak it all in." He grinned. "Are you happy?"

"I was until you started acting all weird." She huffed.

He giggled. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it."

"Arthur!" She hit his arm. "That's not funny!"

"I'm sorry." He kissed her. "I love you."

"You're so mean." She glared at him.

"I know. I'm sorry." He kissed her over and over again. "If I weren't so tired, and you weren't on top of me I'd jump for joy."

"I love you." She grinned.

"I love you too. How far long are you?" He whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

She giggled. "About three months."

He thought for a second. "So you were pregnant when we got married and you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't know for sure." She smiled.

"Well I'm thrilled." He grinned.

She kissed him and sat up. "I am too."

"Are you showing yet?" He looked at her stomach.

"A little bit. Ari couldn't even tell." She stood up and turned sideways.

"I can tell." He kissed her.

"Oh. One more thing." She smiled.

"What's that?" He was wondering what else she was going to spring on him.

"I'm expecting twins." She grinned.

Arthur sunk down on the couch. "Oh, I'm doomed. Eames will make my life a living nightmare. I only laughed once." He chuckled.

"Well it _is_ Eames. What else would you expect?" She giggled.

"I know, but you're still worth it." He kissed her nose.

* * *

_So what did you think? Were you able to follow everything? I know I skipped around a lot. Let me know what you thought. I'm working on the last chapter, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to post it. So if there is anything else you want to know. Speak now, or forever hold your peace. :)_


	22. Chapter 21 Remember When

_Um, so explanation as to why this took so long... November I had another project I was working on for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)... Almost a month ago my younger sister was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. So my life has been a whirlwind! And when I picked this chapter up it was being persnickety (I think it was mad for being neglected)._

_The good news: I finished NaNo. My sister has surgery next week and will be fine. The chapter is finally done. Whee!_

_I own nothing. Not inception. Not "Remember When" by Alan Jackson. Not the hotel internet that I'm currently using._

* * *

"_Remember when we vowed the vows and walked the walk. Gave our hearts, made the start and it was hard. We lived and learned, life threw curves. There was joy, there was hurt. Remember when. Remember when old ones died and new were born. And life was changed, disassembled, rearranged. We came together, fell apart. And broke each other's hearts. Remember when. Remember when the sound of little feet was the music we danced to week to week. Brought back the love, we found trust. Vowed we'd never give it up. Remember when. Remember when thirty seemed so old. Now lookin' back, it's just a steppin' stone. To where we are, where we've been. Said we'd do it all again. Remember when."_

* * *

"Daddy! Stand still." Eva Jane huffed as she fixed his tie.

"Sorry Darling." He smiled. "You know me. I can't stand still when I'm nervous."

"You'll do fine. It's my big day, not yours. Remember not everything is about you." She rolled her eyes.

He chuckled. "Yes, Ari." He rolled his eyes.

"I wish she was here to see this." She turned and looked at herself in the mirror. "Tell me again why she _had_ to be the one to pick up Gramma and Grampa at the airport?" She smoothed her dress out of nervous habit.

"Oh you know your mother. It was either her or me, and between us I don't think she trusted me to get back on time." He winked.

"She'll be here Eva. Don't worry." Phillipa said. She was her maid of honor.

"I know, but really? Mummy had to go?" She huffed. Her mother was supposed to be there helping her.

"Calm down Darling. It will be fine. She'll be here on time. You know how she is." He smirked.

She chuckled. "I know."

"I can't believe my baby girl is getting married." He smiled wistfully.

"Daddy! Stop it! You said you wouldn't talk like that." She crossed her arms and pouted. "You'll make me cry." Tears glistened in her eyes. She blinked them away.

"I know. I'm sorry. It just seems like yesterday your mum and I brought you home." He hugged her. "I'm so proud of you Darling."

"Thanks Daddy. I love you." She kissed his cheek.

"I love you too." He smiled.

* * *

"I'm here! Sorry sweetheart." Ariadne breezed in with half of her make up on.

"Mummy! You're here." Eva Jane hugged her.

"Traffic was a nightmare." She sighed.

"Hello Love." Eames kissed her.

"Hello to you too." Ariadne grinned.

"Oh my gosh." Eva Jane rolled her eyes. "The two of you said you would behave!"

"Darling, I never behave. Just ask your mother." He smirked.

"That's it. I'm going to have Uncle Arthur walk me down the aisle." She scooped up her dress, and stomped out of the dressing room.

* * *

"Uncle Arthur?" She asked as she walked outside.

"You look beautiful." He hugged her.

"Thank you. Will you walk me down the aisle?" She asked.

"Where is your dad?" Arthur raised his eyebrow.

"He and mum are making goo-ga-lee eyes at each other." She rolled her eyes. "And after they promised they would behave. I'm sure they are looking for a closet right about now. No child EVER wants to hear their parents talk about shagging." She threw her hands up.

Arthur laughed. "Your parents have been like that for as long as they have been together. They're still in love."

"I know, but if they weren't so vocal about it…" She sighed.

"Trust me. Your dad has always been vocal about everything. That will _never_ change." Arthur smirked.

"But is it too much to ask for one day?" She crossed her arms.

"I'm sure your dad will behave as much as he possibly can. He's probably just nervous and acts out more. I'm sure he'll have something smart to say to me before the day is up." Arthur chuckled.

"I wish he wouldn't." She rolled her eyes.

"It's like I told your Aunt Lena. You know what your dad said to me the day Dom introduced us?" He grinned.

"No. What did he say?" She could only guess.

"I held out my hand to shake his, but he just rubs the back of his neck and says: 'Bloody hell Arthur! Where were you the day God handed out imagination and creativity?' Then he messed up my hair." Arthur laughed.

"Oh my gosh. How have I not heard that story before now?" She giggled.

"I don't know, but maybe you understand your dad better now?" He asked.

"I think so. Thanks Uncle Arthur." She kissed his cheek.

"There you are!" Phillipa said. "Come on. You have to finish getting ready."

"I am ready. Where are my parents?" She was almost afraid to ask.

"They went to see James. Who, by the way, looks dashing in a tux." Phillipa grinned.

"He'd better be wearing that tux. He said he didn't want to wear it." She laughed.

"I told him he had to. You look beautiful Sweetheart." Dom hugged her.

"Thanks." She smiled. "Just don't tell me that you can't believe I'm all grown up and getting married."

"Your dad got nostalgic didn't he?" Dom chuckled.

"Yes he did. Among other things." She rolled her eyes.

"I told her it was just Eames." Arthur laughed.

"That's about right. Everything will be fine. Don't worry." Dom smiled.

"Thanks." She hugged him.

* * *

"You look great sis!" Her brother Charlie hugged her.

"Thanks Charlie." She grinned.

"I'll see you later. We'll dance." He grinned.

"Deal." She laughed.

"Georgie boy, let's go." Charlie grinned at Arthur and Lena's son.

"Bye ladies." He waved as they walked out.

"After I dance with Eva Jane will you dance with me Brianna?" Charlie batted his eyes at George's twin sister.

"You can ask my dad." She smirked.

"Come on you." George huffed, and pulled him out of the room by his collar.

Eva Jane laughed. Her mum had always said Charlie was just like their dad. When he was born Ariadne checked to make sure he wasn't bearing the devil's number.

* * *

The ceremony went off without a hitch. That is if you don't count Charlie clearing his throat during the 'speak now or forever hold your peace' bit. He swore it was an accident. James started laughing. Eva Jane glared at both of them. She was definitely her mother's child and just as uptight as Ariadne had been. James stuck his tongue out at Eva and she started laughing. He could always make her laugh.

* * *

"Darling do you remember the prank Arthur and I played on you?" Eames asked Ari as they danced.

"How could I forget about that?" She rolled her eyes. "What about it?"

"When you thought that Arthur was me, and he called you a travesty. And then you kissed Arthur." He smirked.

"Mum, you kissed Uncle Arthur? How have I not heard about this?" Eva Jane asked as she and James danced nearby.

"I am sure there a lot of stories that you have never heard." Ariadne looked at Eames.

He grinned. Eva Jane and Charlie knew about their parents' involvement in the Fischer inception and various extraction jobs.

"Arthur was practicing his forging skills." Ariadne said.

"Which do not compare to mine." Eames interrupted.

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "I thought he was your father and I kissed him."

"Oh let that live forever." Arthur said. "First of all Eva, it was your father's idea for me to go into the dream."

"Not as me it wasn't!" Eames glared at him.

"No fighting!" Eva stopped dancing. "You both promised."

"Darling I promised I would try." Eames kissed her cheek.

"I don't want to hear it." She held up her hands.

"Brianna will you please dance with me?" Charlie pouted.

"No Charlie." She smiled.

"Now you are just taunting me." He frowned.

"You will never know." She smirked.

"That's my girl." Arthur grinned.

"Oh Brianna just dance with him, and put the poor boy out of his misery." Lena said.

"Lena!" Arthur fussed. He would be forever doomed if his daughter fell in love with Eames' son.

Lena chuckled. "Arthur hush." She kissed his cheek.

Eva rolled her eyes and looked at James. "Can we leave yet?"

"It's our party Sweetheart. We can leave whenever we want." He smirked.

"Then let's leave while Charlie is dancing so he won't dump a bag of birdseed on me." She started giggling.

"Oh no! You are getting covered with birdseed Sis!" Charlie grinned as he danced with Brianna.

* * *

James and Eva did get birdseed thrown at them, but Charlie refrained. Ariadne made him promise he wouldn't.

"But that doesn't mean that I can't." George grinned as he dumped a bag of birdseed on them.

"George!" Eva's face got red.

He laughed. "Gotcha Eva. Congrats!" He hugged her.

She rolled her eyes. "I will remember this." She warned.

"I will too." James laughed as he scooped Eva up and carried her to the car.

"Uh oh." Charlie said. "Uh, Mum… Just so you know the birdseed was in the car before you made me promise." He cringed.

Ari rolled her eyes.

James opened the door, and birdseed spilled out of the car.

"Charlie!" Eva fussed.

"Sorry Sis. I love you." Charlie smirked and hugged her.

"I love you too Charlie." She rolled her eyes and hugged him.

"Bye Darling." Ariadne and Eames hugged her. "Your dad and I love you very much."

"I love you too." She smiled.

* * *

Later that evening Eames snuggled up to Ariadne as she was trying to sleep.

"Not now. I'm too tired." She mumbled.

He chuckled. "I was just going to say goodnight."

"Oh really?" She rolled over and glared at him.

"Okay so it was worth a shot." He kissed her. "I love you Ari."

"I love you too Andrew." She scooted closer to him.

"You know what I was thinking earlier?" He buried his face in her hair.

"No, what?" She yawned.

"I can't believe we've made it all these years." He smirked. "I figured you would have left me years ago."

"I _did_ leave you years ago." She laughed.

"You did, but you came back." He pointed out.

"Yes I did because I love you, and I always will." She kissed him.

"And I will always love you too." He kissed her.

* * *

"_Remember when we said when we turned gray. When the children grow up and move away. We won't be sad, we'll be glad. For all the life we've had. And we'll remember when."_

_

* * *

_

_So there it is. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought._

_Thanks to all of you for all of your fabulous reviews and love. Thanks!_

_I'm throwing a couple of ideas around for another story so if you have any ideas or requests let me know._

_Love, Miss Caitie Jo_


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